


Lost children – Part 2 // TRUST

by Kitsuchin



Series: Lost Children [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (not all of them), Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Angst, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Childhood Friends, F/M, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Weasley Family Bashing (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2020-11-02 04:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 75,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20615288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsuchin/pseuds/Kitsuchin
Summary: (This is not an independent work in the AU but the direct continuation of part 1. Please, read it first)Harry finally managed to trust his friends and himself enough to tell the truth about his living situation with the Dursleys and had been taken out of that house for good. Now he's ready to start his 3rd Year in Hogwarts with his two best friends, trying not to think too much about his lost childhood friend or the fact that his godfather is a mass murderer in the run out to kill him...  So much fun ahead!(Well, I don't know what to write for the summary as I didn't intend to make several parts at this story at first! In conclusion, it's just the continuation of part 1, please read the real summary there!)





	1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter never understood what Summer Holidays really meant until the summer of his 13th birthday. 

For the first time in his life, he didn’t have to go back to the Dursleys. The Diggorys took him in and to be honest it had been a bit awkward at first… well, Harry had felt awkward, at least. 

Mr Amos Diggory worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and he was very proud of his son. Apparently, Cedric was not only a decent seeker, but he was also the top of his class and in good position to become Prefect next year. Harry tried to be polite and to listen to Amos boasting about his son’s accomplishments at every given opportunity at first… but it became boring quite quickly. 

Thankfully, Mrs Daisy Diggory wasn’t like her husband. Of course, she clearly loved her son, but she was mainly worried he might be doing too much and putting his health in danger. She sometimes scolded Amos because he was putting too much pressure on Cedric, but Cedric was always prompted to reassure her and tell her that he was okay. 

Daisy was a mind-healer – kind of a psychiatrist but for wizards – and after a few days of letting Harry adjust to their house, she gave him a choice. Either she would be his psychiatrist or someone else from St Mungo’s would be, but he would not stay any longer without speaking about what happened to him to a professional. 

Harry had been a bit frightened by that announcement at first. Even though he managed to be honest and tell the truth to a Ministry Official the previous year, it was mainly for his friends. He still had a hard time trusting people to believe him so he really didn’t want to talk if he could avoid it. But Daisy welcomed him in her home, so she probably knew already… So, in the end, he decided that it might be easier to talk to her as they would spend the next two months together anyway. 

As soon as he agreed to the therapy session, Daisy had relaxed and even congratulated him. He wouldn’t have to speak about the hard stuff right away, but they would have two sessions of two-hour talk every week. She also encouraged Harry to keep a diary and to write at least once every other night. 

“It’s for you, I won’t be reading it neither will anyone else,” she assured him with a smile. “You can write about your day or about a special memory. I also would like for you to write down your dreams and your nightmares if you remembered them. Remember you’re doing it for you. Writing it down might help you process it and, when you’re ready, we’ll talk about it during sessions, ok?”

Harry had approved hesitantly and immediately Daisy had ordered Cedric to take Harry to London to buy writing supplies. If he wanted to be motivated to write, he would need supplies that made him want to do it, otherwise, it would never stick! 

The Weasleys twins had been around at that time, so they came with them and they ended up having a wonderful time in Muggle London. Apparently, Daisy’s father was muggle and he had introduced his grandson to the muggle world since he was a toddler. Fred and George were far less comfortable than Cedric and Harry though. So, it had been really fun to see them taking the elevator for the first time or to order some soda cans from a vending machine. 

Cedric was nice. He had offered Harry to help him with his summer assignments and he was good at Quidditch. They flew a lot when the weather allowed it. He even got a bit jealous when Harry’s week at the Malfoys’ came closer. The Prides wasn’t his favourite team, but it was still a pretty awesome opportunity that he wished he had too. 

Professional Quidditch Team’s training was something else. Harry felt lucky that Wood wasn’t there because it could have given him ideas. Neville had a good intuition not to come over until the last weekend because neither his friends had any energy after their training. After the first day, he and Draco just dropped dead on their beds. They were completely drained but it was good fatigue. Harry didn’t even get a nightmare despite missing his daily fifteen-minute meditation session before sleep. 

Around the 3rd day, their bodies seemed to adjust a little and they had the longest exploding snaps game in the evening. They had been playing in a small sitting room and Draco’s parents had been there too, reading a book for his mother and the Daily Prophet for his father. An old turntable was playing some classical music. It very much felt like a quiet family evening despite Harry being here. 

Harry didn’t see Draco’s parents much. Draco’s father was working most of the day. He was usually finishing his breakfast when they went down in the morning, and sometimes, wasn’t home when they come back from the Quidditch Training at 6 pm. Draco’s mother was very beautiful and only took tea for breakfast. She was the one who took them to the Quidditch Training in the morning and came to get them back in the afternoon. She usually had social events during the day and was apparently managing some of their monetary investments. Draco told Harry that she wasn’t the one cooking as it was the house-elves’ jobs, but she always made sure they finished their plates and that Draco ate his vegetables. 

They seemed a bit cold in Harry’s eyes because they never hugged Draco or told him they loved him as the Dursleys did with Dudley or the Diggorys with Cedric or even the Weasleys with their children. He waited for Neville to be there before expressing his concern to Draco but the Slytherin assured him that he had never doubted his parents’ love and that they were just acting a bit more distant because they had a guest over.

“I’m not a guest… I’m just a kid and… Don’t they want to adopt me? Will they keep on acting like that towards you if they really adopt me?” Harry asked and it sounded like a whine even to his ears. 

It seemed to sound weird to Draco and Neville too because Harry never whined. He had never been really allowed to. But Daisy told him that he needed to act more like a kid, so he guessed it was okay. 

“Hospitality is important in wizarding culture… even if you’re _just a kid_, you’re still a guest and the Heir of an important House and…” Draco started mumbling before Neville came saving him. 

“What Draco is trying to say is that you aren’t less important because you’re a kid, and his parents try to respect that. As for what would happen if they manage to adopt you… I’m sure you don’t need to worry. They probably just don’t know how much space you want or if you would be comfortable with too much proximity… They’ll probably be a better option than my grandmother if you need real parental hugs…” he joked.

“My parents aren’t big huggers either… I mean… they were when I was 5 or something but… well… I’m not 5 anymore. But they will always be there if you need them and they always say that I can go to them for anything.” Draco smiled softly but seemed to think about something sour because his face became darker and he looked down immediately after that. 

“What is it?” Harry asked. 

“Nothing,” Draco sighed. “Anyway, you don’t need to worry, my parents won’t just stop loving me if they adopt you. I’m an awesome son, you won’t replace me so easily.”

Draco was grinning now, so Harry did the only sensible thing to do, he grabbed his pillow and threw it to his face. 

On his last day at the Malfoys, Harry had a hard time sleeping. Draco and Neville had been fast asleep, but he had been lying there in his bed for what felt like hours. Some thoughts just could not sit right in his mind. So, at some point he decided to get up and to seek the kitchen for a glass of water. He knew it was just an excuse because he could very much have just drunken some water from the tap of Draco’s in-suite bathroom, but he needed it. 

When he passed by Mister Malfoy’s study, he saw that the light was still on, so he knocked softly at the door. 

“Come in,” called the man’s voice. 

When he pushed the wooden door, he noticed that Mrs Malfoy was there too. 

“Mister Potter, I thought you boys had gone to bed already…” Mr Malfoy said while his wife watched Harry carefully.

“We had,” Harry acknowledged. “Draco and Neville are already sleeping…” 

He looked down. He had felt far braver a few minutes before when he had still been in his bed. 

“What can I do for you?” Mr Malfoy continued. 

“I… I wanted to ask you something… about…” he was fingering now. He felt so stupid. “About my childhood friend. June Islington? Draco told me you didn’t have the time last year and I perfectly understand but I was wondering if…”

“If I had any more luck since the end of your school year?” Mr Malfoy finished for him and Harry nodded with relief. “Sadly, I didn’t and I’m very sorry about that. It seemed that the muggles completely lost track of her. I tried to retrieve some of her personal belongings through her former guardians but either they didn’t have enough ownership feelings toward them, or she’s somewhere protected against localization charms because even through magical means, I couldn’t find her. I’m very sorry Mister Potter. Draco told us it was of utmost importance to you…”

Harry forced himself to breathe slowly and to control his reaction. He knew that already, there was no need to feel disappointed. He knew it already. 

“Apart from localizing her, would your charms tell you if she was dead?” he asked, trying not to think too much about the implication of his question. 

“Mister Potter…”

“Harry,” he corrected him without looking up. He just needed to keep breathing. Not to think too much. It was just information. Knowing or not knowing wouldn’t change the fact that it had already happened and that he couldn’t do anything about it. 

“Harry,” Mr Malfoy resumed. “Those charms would indeed come back unsuccessful in the eventuality of the demise of the target. However, I cannot confirm that this is the reason why the charms are unsuccessful without a drop of blood of the target, which I don’t have.”

“Hope is the only thing stronger than fear, Harry,” Mrs Malfoy said softly. “Instead of thinking of the worse, try thinking about the best. Your friend might also be safe and sound, waiting to come back to you, somewhere. If it’s due to happen, Fate will bring her back to you, eventually… On the meantime, my husband will keep trying to find out what happened to your friend.”

Harry was staring at the ground. He just needed to breathe out. It wasn’t that hard…

“Draco told me that she might be from your family…” he mumbled. 

“She, indeed, shares physical marks that are prominent in the Black family. However, I found no trace of a child being born around 1981 in my direct or extended family, whether it had been in or outside of wedlock…”

“I understood you weren’t really close to your whole family…” Harry tried to argue. He looked up at her, but he really didn’t know why he felt angry. It wasn’t her fault. He knew it wasn’t her fault but…

“Of course, I’m not in contact with my most extended family, some of them had left Britain for a few generations already. However, if you’re referring to my sister, Andromeda, I assure you, I have proof that she didn’t give birth that year. As for my cousin, Sirius… I cannot know for sure, of course. He had always assumed the role of a player, but for as much as I know, he wasn’t really into the kind of relationships that could father a child at that time…” she sighed softly. “I’m afraid I didn’t have the courage to reach out to his last known lover to know if they knew anything about it, but I could if you want me to. I’m not sure they would answer me though…”

“You don’t think that person could be my friend’s mother?” Harry deduced. 

“No, they can’t be,” she confirmed. 

Harry looked away. That man betrayed his parents, it wouldn’t be that surprising if he also betrayed his lover and cheated on her behind her back. He certainly must have been the irresponsible kind. 

“There’s also Regulus, my other cousin. He was only 18 when he died in early 1981 but had been missing for a few weeks before that. If he had a lover, somewhere, he didn’t tell me about it…”

“Were you close?”

“I made him Draco’s godfather,” she answered simply. “He was kind and would have sacrificed everything to protect what mattered to him.” 

He understood that she didn’t want for Ace to be her younger cousin’s daughter, but she couldn’t know for sure. Nobody knew for sure…

“Just so you know, we tried to use my blood to locate your friend and it didn’t work either,” Mrs Malfoy added. “As for the other locating charms, there are several reasons that could explain this failure. One of them is that she’s not from my family…” 

“But your family would have hurt her if they had believed her to be a squib,” Harry snapped. 

“My family isn’t perfect; I can reckon that. I would never condone the way my aunt treated both my cousins and I tried my best not to reproduce this situation with Draco.”

“By forcing him to marry a girl he doesn’t love?!”

Both adults seemed taken aback by this accusation. 

“Did Draco complain about his betrothal with Astoria?” Mr Malfoy asked. 

Harry froze. He never really talked to Draco about it. He was angry with the idea of forced marriage, but Draco and Neville didn’t seem to find it strange or anything. 

“He didn’t…” Harry admitted, not willing to put Draco in a worse situation towards his parents. He had probably already talked too much. “I… maybe it’s just me because I was raised by muggles but I… Arranged marriages aren’t really a thing anymore back there,” he muttered. 

The two adults shared a silent look. 

“It’s a bit more complicated than that but please, know that we would never force Draco to do something he didn’t agree with. Our arrangement with the Greengrasses was a necessary measure we took in time of war to ensure our son’s future if anything had happened to us. Thankfully, we made it okay and saw him grow up ourselves. As for the lingering engagements of our arrangement, we plan on talking it through with Draco when he will be of age. He’ll have his word in this, and so will Astoria Greengrass. We can at least promise you that.” Mrs Malfoy explained. 

“And for the record, we had this kind of _arranged marriage_ too, in our time. It didn’t prevent us from loving each other or our son dearly,” Mr Malfoy explained, creating a soft smirk on his wife’s lips. 

“Oh, you were so totally in love from day one, Lucius. I could have done anything to you,” Mrs Malfoy teased him. 

“I’ll pretend that I don’t realise that you still can,” he answered lovingly.

And seeing them like that triggered something warm into Harry’s chest. He felt a bit like intruding but he was also kind of relieved… but still, he didn’t really know what to think. It’s not because Draco’s parents’ arranged marriage was happy that he would be! 

“What if Draco doesn’t like her, though? What if she doesn’t like him?” he said. “What if… what if he likes someone else?? Or he has a child who is a squib?! Do you even know why he felt so down lately???” He almost yelled. And he felt stupid. Maybe Draco just didn’t want to talk to his parents about what was going on. Who was he to judge?! He certainly didn’t speak to anyone about what was on his mind for a very long time. He was such a hypocrite. Or maybe Draco did talk to his parents already but didn’t want to talk to Harry… Maybe it was Harry’s fault for not being open enough… Neville had always been a better listener. And suddenly Harry felt sick with himself and couldn’t face the two adults anymore. “I… I think I’ll go back to bed…” he mumbled, and he fled before giving them a chance to answer. 

When he stumbled into Draco’s room, he didn’t notice his friend stirring softly into his bed. He was lost in his thoughts. What was he thinking? What if he had put Draco in troubles with his parents? What if all that had just been an act and…

“Harry?” Draco’s sleepy voice called. “What’s going on?”

Harry looked up and dove into his friend’s silver eyes. He knew he would never forgive himself if he had just done something that could put Draco into any danger… However, theoretically, his parents shouldn’t represent a danger in any situation… they weren’t the Dursleys… theoretically…

“Har’?” Draco called again. 

Harry stumbled to Draco’s bed and looked at his friend. He would go back to the Diggory the next day, how would he know if he had just screw Draco’s relationship with his parents? What if Draco’s parents didn’t want to foster him anymore??

Harry knew he couldn’t escape his nightmares that night no matter how much meditation he would put himself into. What had he been so stupid??? 

“C-can I sleep with you?” he muttered. “I…” What could he say? He didn’t even know how to explain to Draco what he just did!

But Draco didn’t need any explanation as he just pulled his cover and made him more space on the mattress. Harry lied down next to him and tried not to think of Mr Malfoy as a Vernon Dursley rip-off.

He closed his eyes and cuddled against Draco’s chest. Draco sleepily hugged him back and Harry felt nostalgic suddenly. It reminded him of those nights during the summer between his 2nd and 3rd grade in elementary school. When Ace had invited him over. Before her foster mum died. Before everything went to hell for her. 

Harry fell asleep on that thought and on the next morning, he woke up to Neville’s smirking face. 

“w-what?” he groaned. 

“Nothing. Your pillow sure seems comfortable…” Neville laughed. 

Harry frowned and looked on the other side to see a frozen Draco who didn’t dare to move. His pillow was, in fact, Draco’s arm and he quickly got up. 

“Sorry…” he mumbled. 

“No prob’…” Draco whispered, massaging his arm to restore blood circulation. “Are you feeling better?”

Harry didn’t understand the reason he asked that at first. Then he remembered the night before and his discussion with Draco’s parents and felt like he was going to be sick. So, he just groaned and hid his face on Draco’s pillow. 

“What?” Neville asked.

“I… I talked to Draco’s parents last night and… I…” Harry started and then stared sideways at Draco. “I… I just can’t understand that stupid arranged marriage business…”

“You argue with my parents about my betrothal?” Draco choked. 

“Among other things…” Harry mumbled. “I said some stupid things…”

“Well, clearly you regret it,” Neville ratiocinated. 

Harry nodded. He didn’t know why he got so worked up. “They… they told me they didn’t get any clue about Ace and I just… I know it’s not their fault, but I was so mad…” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Draco. I don’t want to make things strange between you and your parents…”

“It’s okay…” Draco tried to smile but it looked a bit fake. “I doubt anything you said could do any real damage to my relationship with them.”

Harry tried to believe him but still felt bad about the whole situation. He groaned into the pillow again. 

“What now?” Neville laughed. 

“They’re certainly waiting for us downstairs, aren’t they?” Harry moaned. 

“Certainly,” Draco confirmed proudly. 

“If you’re feeling so bad, you should just apologize, Harry,” Neville said kindly. “I’m sure the Malfoys won’t be mad at you.”

“Hum…”

Harry wasn’t convinced but his friends didn’t leave him the choice as they were pulling him out of the bed. They washed their faces and changed before going downstairs for breakfast. Both Mr and Mrs Malfoy were already there. 

“Hello~,” Neville and Draco said brightly. 

“Good morning boys,” Mrs Malfoy answered. 

“Good morning…” Harry mumbled less lively than his friends. 

But neither Draco nor Neville would let him get out of it. 

“Harry has something to tell you,” Draco announced. 

And Harry was ready to strangle him. But it wouldn’t do well to do it in front of his parents anyway. 

“I… I wanted to apologize about last night…” he mumbled without looking up to see the adults’ faces. “It was rude and not my place to express opinions about your relationship with Draco… Please don’t be mad at him for what I said…”

Silence answered his speech until Mrs Malfoy to put an end to his misery. 

“We accept your apology and are not mad at you either, Harry. You worry about your friends and our son is one of them.” 

“How can we be mad at you for being a loyal and faithful friend?” Mr Malfoy confirmed. “If anything, we should be grateful that our son has such wonderful friends around him.”

“Our gratitude is also toward you, Heir Longbottom. We didn’t have a chance to thank you both properly for discovering the Chamber of Secrets and clearing our son’s name. Severus told us what you did. It was very brave,” Mrs Malfoy said. 

“Well, they’re Gryffindors…” Draco hmphed uncomfortably behind Harry. 

His mother smiled softly at him. 

“As a reward, we organized with your respective guardians to have you both over one more night on the 1st of August to see Ireland-Greece Quidditch Match,” Mr Malfoy said. 

“The qualification match for next year World Cup????” Draco exclaimed excitedly. 

“Indeed,” his father confirmed. 

Harry was gobsmacked. He knew how hard it was to have places to this event from Ron’s non-stop complaining the previous year. He eyed Neville who seemed equally amazed despise not being as much a Quidditch fan as he or Draco. 

When Daisy appeared in the floo hall of the manor an hour later to take him home, Harry hadn’t got rid of the amazement on his face yet. 

“Does that mean that the Malfoys revealed to you your secret birthday present?” the woman joked lightly. 

“Did you organize that with them?” Harry asked in a whisper. 

“They asked for our permission as your temporary guardians and we had no reason to refuse. Amos and Cedric were going anyway. I guess the more the merrier. Are you ready to go?”

Harry nodded and said bye to Draco and his parents – Neville had already left ten minutes before. Daisy took the floo with him as she did the week before and Harry stepped out coughing in the Diggorys’ small living room. 

“Cedric is on the back yard, the Weasley twins are here,” she told him while spelling his bag to his room upstairs. 

“Ok, thank you, Daisy.”

“If you’re okay with it, we’ll have a session at 2 this afternoon.”

“Ok.”

“Off you go then. Cedric had so many questions for you, don’t make him wait.”

Harry nodded and ran to the back-yard door. He found Cedric and the twins easily as Fred and George were almost yelling. They both seemed pretty upset. 

“Hey, guys…” Harry made himself known timidly. 

“Oh, Harry! Welcome back!” Cedric said cheerfully. “How was your week? Are you still able to walk by yourself or are you under a litre of pepper-up potion right now?”

“I’m okay, it was awesome,” Harry smiled. “I learnt so much new moves. I could show you if you want!”

“Harry!” Fred stopped him, pretending to be outraged. 

“How dare you!” continued George. 

“It’s already bad enough that Slytherin’s seeker went training with you…”

“… don’t give Hufflepuff a chance to keep up too!”

Harry laughed softly at their antic. 

“But the game would be much more interesting if we give the other Houses a chance too…” he pretended to whine. 

“They don’t need one!” George said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah… they’re already trying to still away one of our beaters… No need to put us under more handicaps…” Fred moaned. 

“What?!” Harry laughed. 

But George had just elbowed violently his brother to make him shut his mouth. 

“Anyway, we should probably go, or mum will go frantic…” George groaned. 

“Send us letters, okay?” Cedric requested. 

“We will… but I pity the owl that would carry away the numerous letters of you two love birds across the world…” Fred sighed. 

“Would you shut up!” George snapped but Cedric was laughing joyfully. 

“I’ll make sure to change owl before answering so no bird gets hurt,” he promised, and George groaned louder, probably because he was going along his brother’s joke. 

“See you in September then, Harry!” Fred exclaimed pulling a sulking George behind him. 

“Bye,” Harry said before turning to Cedric. “Where are they going?” 

Cedric stopped staring at the two red-heads’ back and blinked at him. “Oh, right, you weren’t there. Their father won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw and they’re going away to visit their brother Bill in Egypt.”

“Oh! That’s… awesome!” Harry exclaimed. “They didn’t seem so thrilled about it, though…”

Cedric shrugged. “Well… you know… with so many children, their family has always had difficulty to make ends meet and they’re kind of upset that their parents would waste money on vacations instead of investing it or using it to repair their house or any other responsible thing that needs to be done…”

“Wow… did someone curse them to act like Percy?” Harry joked and Cedric smiled at him.

“Their other brother, Charlie, is also in Egypt right now and they suspect their mother decided to go there on purpose. I think that’s the real reason they’re so mad…”

“Charlie is the Quidditch-Dragon tamer one, right?” Harry asked. “He was the one to help us getting Draco the week of training with the Prides… Is something wrong with him being there too?”

Cedric looked at him as if he was pondering whether he should tell him more or not. 

“Well, you see… when Percy was in first year, something happened and, well… their mother was furious with Charlie. He was in 5th year then. The twins had never seen her like that. And it became worse and worse… She even asked him to withdraw the wand she bought him for his first year. In the end, Bill – who was finishing his 7th year at the time – decided to take Charlie with him when he left for Romania for his first job at Gringotts. Charlie enrolled in a magizoologist internship program with a specialization in dragonology and got his international NEWT equivalent there… He hadn’t been home since. I know the twins and Percy saw him a few times during the summer and he went to Hogsmeade a few times to see them too but… well, it doesn’t seem that his relationship with his mother gets any better with time and distance…”

“Wow… I… I didn’t know the relationship between their parents and their brother was so bad… Ron never told…” 

“Well, Ron was still young when it happened so I’m not sure he understood everything…” Cedric sighed. 

“But weren’t their parents in Romania with Ginny for Christmas two years ago?” Harry inquired. 

“According to what the twins told me then, Charlie refused to see his mother. He still spent some time with his sister though but not his parents…” the older boy explained sadly. 

“Oh…”

Harry wanted to know what happened now, but that curiosity was out of place. It wasn’t his business and certainly not Cedric’s place to tell him. Maybe he could ask the twins or Percy next year… He hoped everything was going to be okay for them that summer. 

“What was that about Hufflepuff trying to steal away one of our beaters?” He asked to change the subject. 

Cedric coughed awkwardly. “What? That? Nothing… just a lingering joke that Fred is playing on George and that starts to get old…”

“Really?” Harry grinned. 

“Yeah! Nothing a small 3rd year should bother himself about! So, tell me, how was your week?”

And with that Cedric successfully changed the subject. They went back to a safe topic: Quidditch. 


	2. Chapter 2

Harry’s whole summer went along the same vibe until two days before his birthday when _Mass murderer Sirius Black_ escaped from his security cell in the Ministry. He had been out of Azkaban for a day to attend the trial that seemed to have been missed in 1981 and it had been enough for him to run away. Of course, the Ministry was trying to cover it up, stating that Black escaped from Azkaban and that no one understood how he did it… But Draco told Harry and Neville everything when they met on August 1st. 

Harry still got to celebrate his birthday with his friends and to go to the Quidditch match with the Malfoys but after that, the Diggorys told him he couldn’t go out of the house alone for security reasons. Very few people knew where Harry was for the summer as his custody trial had been kept confidential, but there was still a risk that Black would go after him. 

All his mail was checked by Amos or Daisy before he could open it. They even had to destroy one of his birthday presents because it was covered in compulsion charms. The note said it was from Hagrid, but it could have been a lure, so they didn’t take the risk. 

Thankfully, the Diggorys’ house was secluded enough that Harry and Cedric could still go out and fly a bit. Otherwise, Harry would have gone crazy. 

Neville and Draco also came over a few times. Cedric really got a Prefect Badge alongside his Hogwarts letter. And they got mails from Fred and George. Harry refused to open Ron’s letter and didn’t even felt bad about it. He had told Daisy about what had happened during Christmas and then had had to make her promise not to tell anything to anyone. He still didn’t know why the Weasleys’ mother had been so mad with her second oldest son, but he would not put her wraith on Ron… no matter how much he disliked him right now. 

Harry got to experience Polyjuice Potion first-hand on the day he went to Diagon Alley to buy his school supplies for the year, and he must admit, it was quite disgusting. 

Harry was taking three new classes that year: Divination with Neville, Ancient Runes with Draco and Care for Magical Creatures with both of them. Neville and Draco also took Muggle Studies together. Harry had been surprised because they hadn’t really talked about it before. Neville told him that it was because they wanted to understand Harry’s world better, but Draco had still seemed a bit awkward about it… When Harry asked him, Cedric theorized that maybe Draco had had to go against his parents’ wishes because the Malfoys weren’t known to be very open-minded towards muggle influence into the Wizarding world.

During the summer he had discovered that Cedric’s great-grandfather was a famous wizard painter. Amos Diggory had been named after him but didn’t inherit his grandfather's talent. He still had a solid magical painting background though and had taken some time to teach technics to Harry. Harry really enjoyed that and managed to draw his first moving painting on the last week of August. He had been so proud that he had asked permission to invite Neville and Draco over. Later, Daisy told him that she had been very proud of his progress as it was the first time, he had ever _asked_ them something. 

Even with Black’s menace leering over him, that summer was really one of the best Harry ever had and when the 1st of September finally came, he felt a mixture of impatience and regret. He actually even accepted Daisy’s hug before jumping in the Hogwarts Express with Neville and Draco. He had spotted Hermione and Ron on the platform and was determined to avoid them. 

They stayed with Cedric, the twins and their friends at first, but soon decided to part ways. The trio had some difficulties to find an empty compartment once the train started moving through. They ended up settling down on the very end of the train. A man was already sleeping there but they didn’t plan to make a lot of noises anyway, so it was probably okay. The name on the man’s case read Professor R.J. Lupin and the three of them theorized that he must be their new Defence Against the Dark Art teacher. 

“The Lupins are renown for being wolf-hunters,” Draco told them. “They were very active during Grindelwald’s war… I don’t know what they are up to nowadays, but he’s probably a good one!”

During the journey, Harry, Neville and Draco talked about their new classes and their assignments. They tried not to make too much noise not to disturb the napping professor who looked like he really needed his extra-sleep. The man barely twitched during the whole journey.

They talked a bit about Sirius Black too. Apparently, the Ministry had no luck finding him so far and was more and more ready to take extreme measures. Draco told them that his father had been rightly pissed those last few days because, apparently, Dumbledore had agreed to let Dementors – Azkaban’s inhuman guardians – around Hogwarts in hope of catching Black. Mr Malfoy thought that it was completely irresponsible to let those creatures around children because accidents were doomed to happen. However, the Ministry insisted that it was a necessary sacrifice to catch Black. 

Harry didn’t really understand the thrill around Azkaban’s guards. Cedric had told him that they were very dark creatures that could eat your soul… but that sounded like a children horror story in Harry’s ears. Then, Draco asked Neville and Harry if they wanted to resume their occlumency lessons with Snape, as the man had asked him about it a few days before and Harry agreed to do it. 

Harry noticed how his friends were very carefully avoiding the subject of Hogsmeade as they already knew that Harry wouldn’t be allowed to go for security reasons. Amos said that they might change their mind if Black was captured but, for now, it would be safer for him to stay in the Castle. Cedric had promised to do any shopping he might need to do in exchange, but Harry was still mortified. He didn’t want to ask Neville and Draco to stay behind with him but didn’t want to stay alone either. He knew that Daisy might come to school on some of those weekends so they could continue their sessions, but still… it felt unfair and Harry hoped that Black would be caught sooner than later. 

It was raining heavily outside, making it as the sun set early. The three of them were already in their school robes as they had not transited by the muggle world to go to the station. It seemed that the floo network was opened to allow students to come directly into the wizarding part of the station. Harry had repressed the need to wonder aloud why the Weasleys even bothered coming to London by car if they could just floo all their children there… It surely would have prevented a lot of drama on the previous year when Harry and Ron were stuck on the muggle side of the station…

Harry, Neville and Draco were discussing their Care for Magical Creatures’ monstrous textbook when the train slowed down and suddenly stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They exchanged a glance and Neville cast a quick _Tempus_ with his brand-new wand. 

“It’s too early, we’re can’t be there yet,” he said. 

“So why are we stopping?” Draco asked. 

The wind and the rain sounded louder than ever against the windows. Professor Lupin stirred uncomfortably in his seat. Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments. And suddenly, without a warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.

“What’s going on?” Neville’s voice said from behind Harry. 

Harry carefully went back to his seat. “I don’t know… maybe we’ve broken down…”

“We can’t. The Express has never broken down since his inauguration in 1830!” Draco exclaimed, fear clearly audible in his voice. “It’s becoming colder, isn’t it?” 

His question was a bit odd but now that he focused on that, Harry acknowledged they might have lost more than a few degrees during the last minutes or so. 

“Do you think that…” Neville started. 

“No! They can’t be here! They have no reason to be on the train!!” Draco was panicking now. 

“What is it??” Harry asked. 

“My… my father told me that… that when the dementors are near, the atmosphere will feel colder. That I should be careful if the temperature dropped too quickly…” the Slytherin explained. 

“Quiet!” said a hoarse voice suddenly. 

Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. There was a soft, crackling noise and a shivering light filled the compartment. The man appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired grey face, but his eyes looked alert a wary. 

“Stay where you are,” he said, in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held in front of him. 

However, the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it. 

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. 

The cold intensified and Harry felt like it was directly attacking his heart. His breath caught in his chest as the cold went deeper and deeper under his skin. 

It was dark. As if he was back in his cupboard again. He heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but couldn’t… a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside him… 

Then he hears Mrs Travers’s – the stern social services agent – cold voice. “I thought she was your best friend; you must have seen that she was not okay! I mean, what this man did to her was bad! Really bad, Harry! And you must have known because you told her you understood, didn’t you?” No, he didn’t want to remember that. He had worked so hard on his occlumency lessons to put that away. “Your lies might have cost her her life. I hope you will remember that the next time you decide to make yourself interesting…” But he didn’t lie… he didn’t want to make himself interesting. What was the life expectancy of a 10-year-old in London streets again?

“Harry! Harry! Are you all right?”

Coldwater was poured into his face. His eyes jolted open and he coughed heavily. 

“W-what?”

The first thing Harry noticed was that the lanterns were back on and the floor was shaking. The Hogwarts Express was moving again. Neville and Draco were kneeling next to him, above them, he could see Professor Lupin watching. Harry felt very sick. 

His friends helped him to sit back properly in his seat. 

“Are you okay?” Neville asked nervously. 

He seemed a little pale too but not as much as Draco. 

“Yeah…” said Harry. “What happened? Where’s… was that a dementor?”

Draco nodded. Then, a loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces. 

“Here,” he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. “Eat it. It’ll help.”

Harry took the chocolate but didn’t eat it. 

“I-I’ve my own,” Draco muttered when the man tried to give him a piece too. “My mother said that it’s the best remedy against them…” he then took out a tablet of the finest Swiss chocolate from his trunk. 

“Eat,” Lupin repeated to Harry. “It’ll really help. I need to speak to the driver and make sure everyone else is okay. Excuse me…”

He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the corridor. 

“Are you sure you are ok, Harry?” Neville asked, watching him anxiously. 

“I don’t get it… what happened?” said Harry, eyeing the piece of chocolate in his hand critically. 

Draco started eating his own piece before answering him. “The dementor stood there and you were the closest to it… I… I don’t really know what happened, I felt like I was back to… last year… after the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw… and then you went rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching…” 

“We thought you were having a fit…” Neville said. “It was worse than your panic attacks… And then Professor Lupin stepped between you and that d…dementor and he said ‘None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.’ But the dementor didn’t move so he muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand. It felt like Snape’s silvery doe last year, remember? Anyway, it seems to be powerful enough to make the dementor go away…” 

“You scared us…” Draco said. “You weren’t waking up… And Weasley and Granger went looking for you…”

“Don’t worry, Professor Lupin made them leave as soon as they started accusing Draco of manipulating and cursing you, again…” Neville chuckled softly but the sadness was still audible behind it.

Harry didn’t understand. He felt weak and shivery, as though he was recovering from one of his uncle’s worst beating… 

“You should eat your chocolate, you’ll feel better,” Draco mumbled. 

Harry nodded and crunched a small part of it before letting his head lean on the blond’s shoulder. The words of Mrs Travers were still resonating in his ears. Someone screamed before that, but it was probably a hallucination too… He didn’t recognize the voice anyway… at least, it wasn’t Ace’s… 

Neville leaned his own head on Harry’s shoulder and between his friends’ proximity and the delicious chocolate he was eating, Harry felt heat spread back to the tips of his fingers and toes. He was going to be okay. It was just a little drawback. Daisy had warned him it could happen. He would just have to talk to her about it later… maybe he could owl her before going to bed… well, if the rain subdued, there’s no way he sends Hedwig under this weather. 

Professor Lupin came back as the train was slowing down again under the shivering lights of Hogsmeade station. In the meantime, the whole train seemed to know that Harry had fainted. But they learned that some Slytherin or first-year boy had suffered a fit too. It was a bit mean, but Harry felt relieved that he wasn’t the only one to have reacted so badly to the dementors…

The rain was still pouring, and they were completely drenched before getting to one of the horseless stagecoaches which set up by itself as soon as they shut the door. 

Harry tried to breathe a little. The coach smelled faintly of mould and straw. Harry felt he would have needed more chocolate because he still felt weak. When he looked at his friend, he noticed that Neville was very pale again too.

“Alright there, Nev’?” he asked. 

“Err… yeah… sorry…” Neville mumbled forcing himself to stop looking at the front window of their coach. “The thestrals are just making me feel a bit uncomfortable…” 

“Thestrals?” Harry repeated. 

Draco had set a comforting hand on Neville’s shoulder. 

“It’s what pulling the coaches,” he explained to Harry. “Most people can’t see them…” 

Harry looked at the front window critically. He couldn’t see anything. 

“I can’t see them either,” Draco said behind him. “They can only be seen by people who have witnessed death…”

Harry froze in his seat. He had done it again… being inconsiderate because he just didn’t know enough about the wizarding world yet. He should study more to stop these occurrences from happening so often. 

“I’m sorry, Neville…” he muttered. “Wh-… no, it doesn’t matter. Forget about it. Sorry.”

“It was my grandfather,” Neville answered anyway. “Nothing gruesome, he was just very old and… I was in the room when he… fell asleep for the last time. I was 8.”

Harry stayed silent at first before apologizing again. He hadn’t intended to bring back more bad memories to his friends after the horrible evening they already had. 

“Don’t worry about it.”

They kept silent during the rest of the ride though. They spotted dementors standing guard on either side of the magnificent wrought-iron gates. Harry leant back into the lumpy seat before getting sick. He wished he would never have to get close to one of those creatures ever again. 

At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and as soon as Harry stepped down, a shrieking voice sounded in his ear. 

“Harry! Are you okay??? Why did you faint??? What happened??????” 

Hermione elbowed past Neville to grab Harry’s shoulders to assess him herself. Harry repressed a sneer. Now, other students were sending him strange looks. He was certain that everyone in the school would know he fainted before the Sorting even ended! 

“Calm down, Granger…” Draco sighed. “He’s okay now…”

“Don’t tell me you have anything to do with it!” she snapped back and Harry frowned when Draco flinched and looked away. He didn’t know what that was about, but he certainly didn’t like the way his friend was reacting to it. 

However, before he could put Hermione back in her place, Professor McGonagall called them. “Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!”

Harry turned around, surprised and a bit worried. What now? Professor McGonagall had a way of making him feel he must have done something wrong. She reminded him of Aunt Petunia sometimes….

“See you later, guys,” he whispered to his friend.

“I’ll save you a seat,” Neville answered quickly as Harry was ushered away by their Head of House. 

She brought them to her office and motioned them to sit down. She settled herself behind her desk and said abruptly. “Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Potter,”

Before Harry could reply, there was a soft knock on the door and Madam Pomfrey came bustling in and McGonagall quickly explained the situation. 

The matron immediately launched a bunch of spells on Harry and started examining his eyes. Harry felt embarrassed under the attention. 

“I’m fine,” he said. 

“What does he need?” said Professor McGonagall crisply while ignoring him. “Bedrest? Should he perhaps spend tonight in the hospital wing?”

“I’m fine!” Harry exclaimed. The idea of being stuck in the Hospital Wing without having a chance to notice his friends was making him sick. 

“Well, he should have some chocolate, at the very least,” said Madam Pomfrey. 

“I’ve already had,” Harry informed her. “Professor Lupin gave us some.”

“Did he, now?” said Madam Pomfrey approvingly. “So, we’ve finally got a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher who knows his remedies. No wonder as he was one of the few students that spent even more time in my infirmary than you, Mister Potter.” She smiled tenderly and Harry wondered for how long she had been a mediwitch in the school, but it was probably rude to say it aloud. “Do you want me to call Healer Diggory for you?”

“I planned on sending her an owl tonight if the weather is a bit better…” Harry admitted and grimaced when he noticed the curious look Hermione was sending him. He didn’t really want the girl to know about his private life anymore. 

Madam Pomfrey seemed to notice his uneasiness. “Do you need me for the girl too, Minerva?” she asked. 

Professor McGonagall declined. “No, it’ll be all. Kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her timetable,” she told Harry. “Then we can go down the Feast together.”

Harry went back into the corridor with Madam Pomfrey who carefully close the door behind them. 

“Are you really feeling okay, Potter?” She asked again and when he nodded, she sighed slightly. “I’m afraid the weather isn’t getting any better… Do you want me to warn Healer Diggory that you could need a session this weekend instead of in two weeks?”

Harry looked down uncomfortably. He wasn’t that used to people fussing over him yet. “It’s okay… I… I think I’m going to be okay.” 

The matron didn’t seem convinced. 

“I promise I’ll go to you right away if I feel like I can’t handle it anymore. For now, I just want to go to the Feast and catch back with my friends.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “Please be careful, then,” 

She left and less than two minutes later, Hermione emerged looking very happy about something, followed by Professor McGonagall, and the three of them made their way to the Great Hall. Thankfully, Hermione didn’t try to make the conversation in the presence of the teacher. Harry wondered if she had forgotten that she wasn’t his friend anymore. 

The Great Hall was a sea of pointed hats and Harry hurried up towards Gryffindor table were Neville was discretely waving at him as Professor McGonagall took over Professor Flitwick’s place and finished the sorting of the first years. Harry heard a few whispers in his way to his seat and decided to ignore them. The story of his collapsing had indeed made the round of the school already…

“What did I miss?” he whispered to Neville while seating down. 

“Nothing much… Professor Flitwick messed with some of the 1st years’ names… and there was a hatstall. He went to Slytherin in the end. They said it’s the boy who had a fit in the train…” he answered shrugging. “What did McGonagall want?”

“Just to check on me because of the dementor…” Harry answered as the sorting was coming to an end. 

Then Dumbledore made his speech about dementors’ danger and the new teachers: Professor Lupin and Hagrid. Harry didn’t really know what to think about Hagrid’s nomination. The man had always made him uncomfortable even when he was trying to act kindly. He wasn’t sure he was the right person to choose as a teacher as he was much careless around dangerous creatures and didn’t even finish school when he was a student… 

Then the dinner appeared magically on the tables and Harry tried to be reasonable about the amount of treacle tart he took for dessert. But to be honest, he felt like he deserved that treat after the evening he had had. 

Ron tried to get his attention during the meal but, as for Hermione, Harry decided that it was safer just to ignore him. He caught up with the twins though. They had hundreds of stories to tell about Egypt and Harry even managed to congratulate Percy about his Headboy position properly as they were making their way out of the Great Hall. 

That when he heard it… this voice he had forced himself to stop dreaming about hearing again. 

“… I don’t know what you’re talking about… it’s my name… The only one I’ve ever had…”

Harry froze in place and Neville looked back at him quizzingly. 

“What is it, Har’?”

Harry was already trying to see where the voice was coming from and he noticed how some teachers had put a first-year student aside from the Slytherins. Snape and McGonagall were interrogating the student while Lupin was looking from behind them. Harry couldn’t see the face of the student properly but deep down, he knew he hadn’t been mistaking.

“Do you perhaps have your Hogwarts acceptance letter with you then, boy?” Snape was asking. 

“Why do you still have your bag with you? Professor Hagrid didn’t tell you that you could leave it at the station?” McGonagall continued.

“I… I don’t… No! Don’t touch my bag! It’s mine!” the student screamed suddenly.

And then Harry saw it. The light brown hair even if they were cut short and those so-long-missed silver eyes panicking slightly as the student was stuck between the adults and the stone wall. 

“Ace?” Harry breathed unbelievingly. 

He wasn’t very loud, but the pair of frightened silver eyes immediately snapped to him between Snape and McGonagall. 

“Har’?” she whispered back in a very similar fashion. 

And it was enough to give him wings. He almost ran across the few meters that were separating them to hug his lost best friend so tight he might have choked her. She was shaking lightly in his arms and hide her face in his robe.

The teachers around them didn’t matter anymore. She was there! She was alive! She was at Hogwarts! Harry hoped he wasn’t dreaming. If this was a dream, he hoped he would never wake up. He just wanted this to be true. 

After some time, Harry stepped back and took the girl’s shoulders in his hands to assess her properly. He noticed he was a full head bigger than her now. She seemed so small… But aside from that and her new haircut, she was just the same…

“Where have you been?!!” he scolded her half smiling half crying. “I looked for you everywhere! I thought… I thought…”

“You’re not dead…” she muttered for herself as she couldn’t believe it either. “You’re really not dead?”

“Potter,” McGonagall interrupted them. “Do you know this boy?”

Harry frowned. “It’s not a…” and then he noticed that Ace was wearing a boy uniform somehow and between her short hair and the way she was now pinching her lips, he understood it was deliberate. “Yes, since I was 7. We went to the same elementary school…” he answered instead. “Why?”

The teachers seemed to be debating silently between themselves now. 

Harry eyed Ace but she was still staring at him as if she barely believed he was here. 

“What’s happening?” he asked her in a whisper. 

“June Islington…” Snape repeated loudly. “It’s the name of the friend you were looking for last year, isn’t it, Potter? The squib. Wasn’t she a girl?”

Harry froze. Ace was frowning now. Her cover was screwed. “What’s a squib?” she asked defensively. 

“Don’t you know? The Book of Admittance stated that you were born in the Magical World though…” McGonagall said. “You must also have been staying in the wizarding world when the letter was sent as you weren't listed as a muggleraised student either… We assumed that you were raised in the magical world. Do you know anything about our world then? How did you get your uniform and supply?”

Ace looked down. Harry couldn’t tell if she was feeling ashamed, hurt or just uncomfortable with the interrogatory. Did McGonagall just say that she had been staying in the magical world?!! 

“It’s enough,” Professor Lupin said. “If Harry said he knows him… I mean, her, since he was 7, she can’t possibly be Sirius Black in disguise. Let her go.”

It was Harry’s turn to frown. How could they think that Ace was Sirius Black??

“She’s still wearing a fake name and pretends to be a boy for some reasons… I won’t say she’s completely clean of all suspicions…” McGonagall sighed. “Is ‘Ace’ your real name then? Why lying?”

Ace’s shoulders shrunk a bit more. Harry didn’t understand what was happening, but it couldn’t be right. 

“’Ace’ is just a nickname I gave her when we were 7 and she came living in a foster home next to where I lived…” he explained. “As for her name, ‘June Islington’ is the name the muggle social services gave her when they found her when she was 5. Obviously, it’s not the name her parents gave her… She doesn’t know her real name. She didn’t even know about magic when…”

Ace immediately pinned on his sleeve to make him stop. 

“What?” he mouthed her. 

“Who are your parents then?” McGonagall continued. “I can hardly believe that a young girl with no knowledge about the magical world could have sent back her acceptance letter or shop for her school supply without external help. Or maybe you do have knowledge about the magical world? But then what were you doing in the muggle foster care system? Your family would certainly have looked for you and the use of words such as ‘muggle’, ‘Quidditch’ or ‘Ministry of Magic’ would have immediately alerted their magical counterparts. Why didn’t you make yourself known? You were 5, certainly you were old enough to notice you weren’t in the right world. Didn’t you want to go back to your world?”

Ace seemed smaller and smaller as the Deputy Headmistress continued to question her story. 

“She didn’t want to go back…” Harry muttered, and Ace’s hand crisped on his sleeve before letting it go lifelessly. 

“What?”

“She was abused,” Snape answered instead of Harry. “I’ve seen her social services file last year. Potter was looking for her. We had no luck in finding her family either so far…”

Ace was now stepping back again. She wouldn’t make eye contact with Harry anymore. 

“It doesn’t explain how she managed to get here…” McGonagall sighed after some time. 

“I agree,” Snape said. “You’ve have been missing for two years, girl. Where were you? Did you meet someone who introduced you back to our world? Who is it?”

“Answer Ace,” Harry begged her gently. “Where have you been? I was so worried… Did someone take you in?”

But Ace avoided his hand this time. She wouldn’t let him touch her anymore.

“Answer, Islington,” Snape insisted. “We don’t have all night.”

“Maybe we could let her rest and ask her again tomorrow?” Lupin tried to persuade his colleagues. “She had a rough encounter with a dementor in the train after all…”

Harry eyed his best friend and remembered the rumour about a first-year boy’s fit during the dementors’ search. He had been sorted into Slytherin and no one could deny the thin green line on Ace’s robe. Was it she? Had she had a seizure? Was she okay? Harry remembered the few times she had had a seizure around him… usually, it was at night, when she fell asleep without realizing it and had a sudden nightmare… Did the dementor bring back those nightmares?

“We can’t let her near other students if we don’t know for sure what her intentions are by coming to this school!” McGonagall argued back. 

“…Cru… crucio…” Harry muttered without noticing the way the three adults froze to look at him. “When you had nightmares, you always beg them to stop _crucio_ in your sleep… it wasn’t some weird Italian word… it’s a spell isn’t it?”

It was probably the straw that breaks the camel's back as Ace’s suddenly looked up and glared at Harry. She was livid. He had never seen her so angry, even when she was on against Dudley and his gang. 

“Would you just fucking shut up?!!! No one asks for your fucking opinion, Harry!” she yelled. “I don’t know what you’re all fucking talking about!! I came because I received a fucking letter telling me that I could!” She rummaged the front pocket of her backpack and threw the envelope on the adults. “There was no fucking name on it, but I signed my fucking answer before giving it back to that stupid bird! I don’t fucking know what I did so wrong but if I’m not welcomed it’s alright, I will just have to fucking leave!!”

Then she stormed out and disappeared in a side corridor before any of them could react.   



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW : Explicit language... this warning goes for the rest of this story btw.

Severus Snape was unsettled, and he didn’t really like this feeling.

He already knew that school year would be difficult after learning that Remus Werewolf Lupin would be the new Defence teacher. Of course, as a Potion Master, he was the one who _had to_ sacrifice some of his precious time every month to brew the wolfsbane potion in order to keep that monster’s identity secret – and preventing him from killing any student or staff member. Dumbledore bribed him with the promise that he could have the Defence position the very next year and that, if Lupin was unable to teach, he would be the one to step in.

As if teaching Potion to twelves classes, brewing first-class potions to a stupid werewolf and the entire stock of the Hospital Wing, and being responsible for one-quarter of the students wasn’t enough… His salary definitely didn’t follow the increase in his workload. Sometimes he pitied the fact that Trade Unions didn’t exist in the Wizarding World…

However, he knew all this before the 1st of September and thus had time to psychologically prepare himself for it. Now he had an additional mission though…

_June Islington_ – this decade’s hatstall girl who pretended to be a boy; who presented herself under a name the Book of Admittance considered as fake; who, according to Lupin, had a dramatic reaction to the Dementors in the train; who happened to be Saviour Potter’s lost childhood friend; and who, apparently, was talented enough to avoid being found for a full night despise the whole school staff and ghosts looking for her… It was her very first night in the school, she shouldn’t have been able to know the Castle well enough to disappear like that…

Of course, the girl had attracted Dumbledore’s attention and, of course, it was Severus’s job, as her Head of House, to figure out who that girl was, where she was standing, and if that manipulative bastard could use her to regain control over his beloved Boy-Who-Lived.

Because that was the main issue for Dumbledore right now. After last year’s trial fiasco, he lost access to his precious Golden Boy. Of course, he didn’t know that Severus wasn’t playing in his hand anymore. He blamed the Malfoys for that and even tried to insinuate to a Prophet’s reporter that Lucius Malfoy was using his son to groom Potter to the Dark side. Thankfully, the reporter didn’t buy the part on using Potter’s blood to bring back the Dark Lord and dismissed the story as a whole. It was the second time in a few months that Dumbledore publicly accused the Malfoys before being called off for the lack of substantial evidence and the obvious bias of his accusations.

At some point, Severus wondered if Dumbledore wasn’t the one who help Sirius Black escaping. Since Lucius had been the one to initiate the (re)trial – in hope to clarify Potter’s custody situation – he had been the first to be accused of helping the mad mutt’s escape. It very much looked like the kind of plots Dumbledore could come up with to discredit Lucius publicly. However, when Dumbledore so willingly agreed to have Dementors around the school ground, Severus discarded the idea of Black’s escape being part of Dumbledore’s plan. There was something going on with Black, but Severus had no idea what… and it certainly wasn’t that stupid idea that Black might be after Potter… The man had always worshipped the boy’s father and if he wanted the boy in his hands – even to kill him – he would just have had to stay out of prison in 1981 as he was the boy’s primary guardian.

No, it made no sense. And with Lupin there… well… Maybe Dumbledore wanted to use him to control Black again… who knew? Black was too much of a wild card as far as Severus was concerned.

So was that girl. Rich robes – even if they seemed a bit outdated, fair skin, aristocratic traits – even at that young age, striking silver eyes… the kid was looking like the poster child of the Black Family if it wasn’t for the very muggle backpack that she kept during her sorting and the whole Feast.

The girl – who they thought was a boy at the time – seemed overly aware of her surroundings, clearly not liking the crowd. She didn’t answer any attempt of her classmates to initiate conversation and they quickly gave up as she was avoiding their eyes and was carefully trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

She barely ate, almost only plain bread with a few vegetables. Severus had been watching her while listening to Lupin trying to convince McGonagall and Dumbledore that he doubted the kid could be Black under a de-ageing potion. Severus unwillingly agreed with the wolf. If that kid was Black, he was doing a very poor job in blending in. Yet, Black had always had an issue with blending in… He had never been spy material like Severus was.

They had confronted the kid after the Feast. Even if she wasn’t Black, he wouldn’t take the risk to have an individual with suspicious behaviours and a fake name entering a dorm full of innocent children. But nothing went according to plan… She had stepped back defensively. According to the elves, that backpack was her only belongings as they alerted Severus that one of the First Years’ trunk was missing. So, of course, she freaked out when they tried to get it away from her.

And there came Potter, arguing that the girl wasn’t suspicious at all as he had known her since he was 7. But his explanations brought a fair amount of new questions. So, the kid was a girl, the squib girl Potter had been looking for so desperately the previous year… but if so, that kid was at least muggleraised and shouldn’t have been able to come to Hogwarts without external magical assistance… The girl was clearly reluctant to give them any piece of information on her… With every word Potter said to defend her, she closed off a little more… She exploded, and Potter got the most of it, and then she disappeared, literally.

Severus hated that he had to start the new school year with a sleepless night. Usually, he didn’t have to deal with homesick First Years until the second or third night… But now, he had a suspicious student on the run… The searching spells weren’t working because Magic didn’t seem to consider ‘June Islington’ as the kid’s real name.

McGonagall had checked the Book of Admittance and there was an odd empty line in October 1981. The coincidence was too big to be true… And she was right, her Acceptance Letter had been blank too. Could it be possible that the kid had no name? Or someone had just deleted it… That person should have been overly powerful to manage to fool the Book of Admittance… So, Dumbledore and McGonagall were now theorizing it could have been the work of the Dark Lord himself which put a new cloud on the girl’s identity. If she was important enough for someone – let alone the Dark Lord – to try and hide her identity, she definitely needed to be watched.

Without something belonging to the girl in hands, locating potions were useless too. After an hour of infructuous search, Severus floo called Malfoy Manor for the girl’s social service file, hoping to find something in there… He already knew that there was nothing exploitable though, Lucius would have found her already otherwise. Still, Severus read the file meticulously.

It was likely that the girl wasn’t suffering from epilepsy like the muggles thought but rather from Cruciatus Curse aftermath. The symptoms certainly matched better. But what kind of people would put a 5-year-old under the Cruciatus Curse? Of course, Severus wasn’t naïve and perfectly knew the answer to that question… But the Dark Lord and his more vicious Death Eaters were long gone before the girl had turned 5… Furthermore, if she was really a Black, that family would never have let her go and Narcissa would have known about her…

Anyway, Severus was now trying to wake up with a cup of the strongest coffee while watching the students coming in for their first breakfast of the year. As usual, his Slytherins came in as a united House whereas the other Houses appeared in small groups of students.

If he only judged by the look on their faces, Longbottom seemed to have been the one who explained to Potter what the Cruciatus Curse was. Severus could almost have felt sorry for the boy – if he wasn’t in such a bad mood already.

“Any luck finding her?” Lupin asked quickly while sitting next to him.

Severus sneered at him. How could that wolf think they were on speaking terms?

“Snape… I really don’t think she is anyone suspicious she… you should have seen her on the train. She genuinely had no idea of what is going on…I think we just scared her off last night.”

“I’ve been the Head of the Slytherin House for almost ten years already, Lupin. If I needed your help to handle my students, I would have asked…”

“You won’t force her to resign then?”

Severus didn’t waste time to answer him. To be honest, with Dumbledore’s eyes on her back to determine if she could be a pawn or if she was a menace, he hoped the girl was already far away from the Castle… for her own good…

“Travers!” he called the 7th year prefect, “Time-tables.” He only said giving him the pile of papers.

Lupin surprisingly seemed to have taken the hint as he got up and sat a few chairs down the table, next to McGonagall.

As minutes passed by, the Great Hall filled up and the other Heads of House went by their tables to pass down their own timetables. Potter was clearly trying to assess the new Slytherin first-years even though the girl he was looking for wasn’t amongst them. He also interrogated McGonagall as she gave him his timetable apparently, but the stern woman only shook her head.

Soon, the students started clearing their bench to get ready for their first class. Severus should probably not stay much longer. He got Slytherin/Gryffindor 2nd year in less than 20 minutes.

“Professor Snape?” Lupin called him just as he was getting up.

“What now?” he sneered. How was he supposed to spend another year alive if that wolf thought they were speaking to each other?

“I have someone here who wishes to talk to you…”

Severus glared at his schooldays nemesis before noticing the small figure frowning behind him.

“Miss Islington,” he acknowledged the fugitive student, hiding his surprise. “Where have you been last night?”

She shrugged and looked away.

“Miss Islington asked me how to get around the Dementors at the school gate so she can catch the train,” Lupin said evenly.

“What train?”

“The one back to London…” the girl muttered.

“Why?”

“I’m not suicidal enough to try surviving a winter in the streets of fucking Scotland!” she snapped.

“Language…” Severus sighed. “You will be going nowhere, Miss Islington.”

“Why? Did you call Social Services? I don’t care, I’ll get out as soon as they ditch me in a foster centre. But if you want to make everyone waste their time, go ahead…”

Severus sighed. Why did he have the impression that the Hat took so long to sort the girl because she could have been a perfect fit to Gryffindor? He hated Gryffindors.

“We didn’t call the Muggle Social Services for now… We will, eventually, to let them know that you are safe and pursuing your education in our school,” he explained. “Now, would you mind following me to my office so we can go over your particular situation and school requirements.”

He was already getting up when the child answered. “I’d rather not. Here is fine.”

Severus was surprised and looked around. There were still plenty of children in the Hall. Notably, Potter was gone though. He wondered if the girl had deliberately waited for him to go before revealing herself.

“Your little scene with Potter last night left me with the impression you didn’t like to talk about personal issues in public… Don’t you rather have some privacy?”

She scoffed. “Yeah… because we all know what happens when grown-ups take children away to talk in more _quiet_ and _private_ places…privacy is overrated.”

Severus froze at the innuendo.

“Come on, Islington,” Lupin tried to argue. “Professor Snape is your Head of House; you can trust him. No teacher will ever do something like that to a child.”

The girl didn’t seem impress by that explanation at all.

“Do you want me to go with you?” the wolf offered and, before Severus had time to object that he had no intention of inviting _him_ in his office, the girl was smirking.

“Oh? Because you think that following two strange men in a recluse area isn’t even worse? Especially when one of them offers candies and chocolate to defenceless children in a deserted train compartment? Friendly dudes are always the most dangerous. At least, _he_ doesn’t pretend.”

If he had been alone, Severus would have smirked at the way the wolf lost all colour. But he didn’t have time for that anymore.

“Fine, then. Do you have all your school supplies?”

She shrugged and he sighed.

“Obviously you have your uniform, even if it’s the wrong gender… where did you buy it?”

“…’ found it…” she said dismissively.

“It’s second-hand,” Lupin informed him without being asked. “I helped her reset it yesterday on the train. I first thought you were a 2nd-year, already wearing the Slytherin House colour high and proud!”

Severus knew what he was trying to do but it clearly wasn’t working as the girl just looked away clearly annoyed.

“Don’t you have a class to teach to, Lupin?” he said before continuing without waiting for his answer. “Do you have a wand?”

She nodded taking out the stick out of her pocket. It was an old wand with some carving on the handle… Like the robes, despite being clearly outdated, it was first quality and had certainly belonged to someone very rich one day.

“Where did you get it?”

“I found it,” she answered again.

“At the same place as the uniform?” The two weren’t from the same time period. The uniform looked like the one he, himself had worn during his school days, so late 60’s to early 80’s. The carving in the wand holder was already outmoded back then though… It was more a practice of the mid-19th century… It fell out of fashion around the Grindelwald War.

She shrugged instead of answering the question. Thus, he let it drop for now.

“Do you have all your books?”

“Not really… found some of them but… I guessed that this place would have a library I could borrow from…”

“You’re correct on that assumption but students are expected to bring their own books. You will need them on a regular basis during your classes or to do your homework.” She didn’t answer. “I’ll arrange a school set for you. You can come to take it from my office this afternoon, after lunch. Here’s your timetable, your first class is Charm with Professor Flitwick. Miss Tremblay, our 6th-year Prefect is waiting for you with the other 1st year. She will show you the way.” The girl took the sheet of paper and barely nodded in acknowledgement. “Miss Tremblay,” Severus called calmly, “could you make sure Miss Islington finds her way to my office after lunch?” When the teenager nodded, Severus focused back on his new troublesome 1st year. “If it makes you more comfortable, Miss Tremblay could stay with us during our afternoon meeting. We still have some things to discuss.”

The kid nodded and dismissed herself without waiting for more.

Severus sighed. It was going to be a very long year indeed…

Harry had the worst day ever.

It started the evening before. He had lost Ace as quickly as he had found her again… After she ran away, the teachers told him to go back to his dorm so he couldn’t go after her… No one told him what that ‘_crucio_’ spell was all about, so he had asked again in the Common Room to the Twins… He regretted asking. Neville had been just next to him and he had rarely seen him looking so sick… Now, he knew why! But he would have liked that someone told him before it was too late…

Harry didn’t really sleep that night… The explanation of what that spell – no, curse – was doing to its victims made him sick too… That curse was the reason why Neville’s parents had been in St Mungo’s for twelve years! And they had been seasoned aurors at the time! How could a 5-year-old survive it? Why would someone put a 5-year-old under it?!!

That last question was stupid… Harry had seen enough at the Dursleys’ to know that one doesn’t need any reason to abuse a child… Daisy had taken long hours this summer to convince him that he had done nothing wrong to deserve what had happened to him. He shivered when he thought about what Vernon could have done to him if he had had magic… He would probably have been under that curse too… It was… insane…

The next morning, Harry realised that Neville hadn’t slept much either and he felt bad once again for asking such an insensitive question in front of his best friend… And then, Ace hadn’t been with the other Slytherins when they came in the Great Hall for breakfast. Draco had quickly joined them to know what happened and Neville told him. Draco then told them that a 1st-year – the hatstall – had been missing from their dorm all night…

That was it… Harry had lost her again…

His first class of term had been Divination with Neville during which the teacher had told Neville that his grandmother was sick and to Harry that he was going to die… Harry already hated the woman for making him and his friend feeling so bad about themselves. He spent most of the Transfiguration lesson afterwards trying to reassure Neville. He couldn’t concentrate anyway… His brain kept on projecting Ace’s face in his mind… the way she looked the previous night… so small… her defensive posture… the explanation of what that curse did…

Harry felt like he was going to be sick and thankfully, the class was over, and it was time for lunch… he wasn’t hungry at all, but he definitely needed some fresh air.

“We should go to the Great Hall… Draco’s going to worry…” Neville mumbled next to Harry after some time.

Harry didn’t even know if he wanted to go there… What if Ace wasn’t there? What if she really left… because of him? Wasn’t it better to just not know?

But he wasn’t supposed to skip meals. Neither was Neville. And his friend was right, Draco didn’t deserve to worry about them. So, they went to the Great Hall and Harry immediately noticed the way Draco looked worriedly at the group of Slytherin First Years.

She was there. She didn’t leave!

Harry couldn’t stop himself. He went directly to her. He didn’t care about the way the other First Years were looking at him. He pretended not to hear the way they whispered ‘_It’s him! It’s Harry Potter!_’. It has been two years already; he was used to it now.

Ace didn’t even look up to see what was going on. She should have noticed though… How everyone seemed to know his name. She was the only one in the Slytherin table to completely ignore him.

“Ace?” Harry called as naturally as possible. He wondered if she could hear how sorry he was. “Are you okay? Did…”

“Greengrass, could you pass me the water,” Ace cut him out without looking at him.

Harry pitched his lips. Okay… she was clearly angry with him. He didn’t really know what he did… he was just so happy to have her back. He wanted to know everything, where she had been, what happened, how she was… really.

“Ace, can we talk, please?”

“Is ‘_Ace_’ your real name then?” the boy sitting across from her asked.

“Isn’t it a bit odd? Are you a foreigner?” another girl asked.

“Isn’t it a boy name? Are you really a boy then?”

“Why do you share the dorm with Greengrass then?! It’s so inappropriate!”

“Did you tell your parents, Astoria?”

The blond girl seating next to Ace blushed a little. “I’m not sure there is anything to tell… Islington is clearly a girl as Hogwarts had placed her in the same dorm as me and…”

“She’s a mudblood,” the first boy to talk spat.

“We don’t use this kind of words here, Crabbe,” a Slytherin Prefect corrected him. “It’ll be your last warning on that matter.”

Ace hadn’t looked up to face any of her classmates while they were discussing her, but Harry could see the way her hand was clutching her fork. He felt bad for her.

“Ace, can we just talk outside, please?” he asked again, in a lower tone.

If only he could see her face. Harry was certain that, if their eyes met, he could convince her, and everything would be okay. The Slytherin First Years weren’t as patient as he intended to be though.

“How do you know Harry Potter? What is your relationship with him?”

“Did you spend the night in _his_ dorm?”

“Guys, please stop… Ace, I mean, June and I have just been friends for a very long time,” Harry tried to calm them, but it was too late.

“She’s not a mud-ggle-born then?” a small girl with black hair asked.

“Of course, she is! My cousin told me that Potter was muggle-raised, that’s why nobody knows where he was before Hogwarts! Is that true that you had muggle servants instead of House-elves there, Potter?” the boy – Crabbe – smirked at him. Now that Harry looked at him, he could see the resemblance with Vincent Crabbe in his year. Was he his brother?

Draco gently tugged Harry’s sleeve to get his attention. “I think you should go… Let’s eat at the Gryffindor table…” he whispered into Harry’s ear.

“Oh Malfoy! Aren’t you worried that your betrothed is sharing a dorm with a mudblood tomboy?” Crabbe asked.

“Crabbe, five points from Slytherin,” the Prefect from before sighed.

“I reckoned we should make sure she’s really a girl before the end of the day to protect Astoria’s purity,” the boy continued without seeming bothered by the Prefect girl intervention.

Harry’s blood grew cold in his veins.

“Don’t you dare…” he started menacing the boy. Despite the other being a first-year, they were probably around the same height.

“Why Potter? Are you ready to vow for her?”

Harry hated that boy already.

“Potter, if you’re not eating here today, I strongly recommend that you leave, immediately,” the Prefect tried to intervene. She seemed to assess Ace before deciding that she probably had eaten enough. “Islington, if you’re finished, we could go see Professor Snape now?”

Ace didn’t wait to be asked twice and got up, but Harry knew this kind of boy wouldn’t let go so easily. “If I vow, will you leave her alone?”

“Oh, so you’re saying that you saw her naked? Somehow her standards lower even more…”

“Shut up…” Harry growled ignoring the way Draco was trying to pull him away.

Ace sighed dramatically. “You, shut up, Har’. This has nothing to do with you… What are you intending to do? Comparing your sizes? Because last time I checked, you had nothing to brag about anyway.”

She finally met his eyes and it was so full of complete indifference. Harry was hurt. “I… I was nine!” he said defensively without realising it.

She raised an eyebrow. “Is it your way of saying you grow bigger? Because I don’t see why I should care.”

Harry blinked, unable to form any word. It… it was not what he was trying to say…

“Oh! So, the mudblood can speak!” Young Crabbe laughed followed by some of his friends. “I’m sorry Potter but it seems that your girlfriend just ditches you!”

It all happened really quickly. Ace looked like she tripped. She grabbed the boy’s green and silver tie, wrapped it around her hand and pulled it strongly. The boy’s face met the table in a loud crack.

“Oh, sorry, I slipped…” Ace said not sounding sorry at all as the boy started moaning while holding his bleeding nose. “I think we should go, Tremblay,” she continued while looking at the Prefect as if nothing happened. “Professor Snape doesn’t seem like the kind who likes waiting…”

She left without looking at Harry the slightest. Harry was too gobsmacked to react anyway. He knew that Ace had always been able to defend herself against stronger boys like Dudley and his band, but she usually just used well-chosen words, not physical violence… Was this girl really the one he grew up with?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!  
Sorry, it took me so long! I had kind of a writer block while writing chapter 5, and I decided to re-read the whole fic, just to be sure of what I wrote or didn't write about some secondary characters... Add to that the fact that work isn't very easy on me lately - basically, my bosses seemed to doubt the existence of 2020 so everything should be done before then! - And here we are! Fashionably late! XD  
Don't worry, the writing is still going on! You may have some spin-off on the Marauders' Era of this universe before Christmas... or maybe not...  
Anyway, I know there isn't much going on in this chapter... sorry about that... but please, tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Draco thought that his 2nd year would be the worst year of all his years at Hogwarts. However, the beginning of his 3rd year made him questioned that conviction.

Draco hadn’t admitted it to his friends but coming back after Easter Holidays the previous year had been weird. There had been people he didn’t even know who came to ask him how he felt and if he was feeling okay. Well, he guessed that guilt did make people do crazy things but yet, it had been strange, and it had been even worse when everyone congratulated him for getting rid of Lockhart… 

His summer had been a bit weird too. For the first time, his parents had asked for his opinion on his betrothal with Astoria and he had thought about telling them about his feelings for Harry… But in the end, he hadn’t been brave enough. He still wasn’t sure about how he felt, to be honest, and deep down he was scared that it might change their decision to gain Harry’s guardianship. So, he lied, a bit… He had nothing against Astoria, but she was still just a kid, so marriage seemed a bit unreal for him.

Then, there had been the day his father discovered that he had signed up for the Muggle Studies class… He had been mad. Draco knew he wouldn’t agree but hadn’t thought his father would care so much. Draco couldn’t tell him that it was because he wanted to know more about that AIDS disease, so he just said that it was for trying to understand Harry better, which wasn’t entirely a lie either! His mother had defended his choice, stating that he was old enough to make that decision and she would support him as long as his grades in the other classes didn’t suffer. Lucius Malfoy still hadn’t been impressed but wouldn’t bring the subject anymore. 

Anyway, that had been the previous year, Draco was ready to have a fresh start this September.

That was until Black’s escape and the rumour that he was after Harry… or the dementors… or the scare Harry gave him and Neville when he had a fit upon meeting them in the train. At least Professor Lupin gave him a good first – maybe second – good impression. He was like the exact opposite of Lockhart. He didn’t seem to care much about his looks, but he was clearly competent.

Draco wouldn’t admit it to him, but he had felt relieved when Professor McGonagall had forced Harry to have a medical check-up after that. And he would gladly sacrifice all his weekends at Hogsmeade if it means that Harry stays safe and sound inside the Castle. However, Harry would probably have a fit if he ever expressed that statement aloud…

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Neville had side-hugged him and spoken soft encouragements. He knew how much Draco regretted not being in the same House as them. Of course, he’d rather be a Slytherin! But being alone could sometime be draining… especially after the previous year… he hoped their _Headquarter_ would still be available this year… Otherwise, his mother had told him about a room on the 7th floor… maybe he should check it up later…

Draco didn’t pay much attention to the Sorting. He only congratulated Astoria when she sat a few seats down their table and made an outraged face to Daphne when she menaced him to shave him bold if he ever touches her sister before she was at least in her 4th year. 

The Sorting lasted forever though. A small boy sat on the stall with the Hat on his head for almost fifteen minutes before the old artefact yelled “_SLYTHERIN_”.

Harry came back not long after that. They shared a few glances and Draco understood that he was okay, so he focused back on the Feast which was finally about to start. He was not that hungry, but he knew he should force himself to eat. His mother had told him that it could be a side effect to a dementor’s encounter and she was right. After a few bites, he found his appetite back. 

He was so tired that night that he went straight to bed, not thinking much about the fact that Severus had been late for his traditional speech in the Slytherin Common Room. It was only the next morning that he discovered a small paper bird laying on the pillow next to his head. 

‘_Harry’s Ace is in your House. Had to explain the Cruciatus to Harry. Not feeling great. Can you check on her?_’ said Neville’s writing. 

Draco felt immediately wide awake. He took a quick shower and dressed up as fast as possible. Nevertheless, he understood something was wrong the minute he stepped in the Common Room. The prefects were talking about a missing First Year and he already felt like it wasn’t a coincidence. 

“Snape had been looking for her all night…” the 7th year male prefect was saying. 

“It’s the Hatstall, right? The one with the muggle bag?”

“Wasn’t it a boy?”

“No, she’s a girl apparently. There was an extra bed in the 1st-year girls’ second dorm. The youngest Greengrass slept alone…” the 6th year female prefect explained. 

“Hello,” Draco made himself known. “I just heard. Do you perhaps remember the girl’s name?”

“Hum… Islington? I remembered it because it’s the name of the London borough my Grand-Parents used to live in…”

Draco’s stomach crunched a bit. It was really her. It was Harry’s Ace’s real name. Why hadn’t he paid more attention during the sorting the previous night?! 

“It’s been a while since we had a muggle-born in our House…” the 6th year male prefect analysed, and Draco didn’t really like the implication of that. 

They were all looking at him now. His outbreaks of the previous year hadn’t been so far in their minds in the end… But that wasn’t what’s really worrying him. If the Slytherins went against Harry’s Ace and ostracized her because she was a muggleborn, Harry would never forgive him! He had to do something to help her blending in before it’s too late! 

Or so was what he thought until he saw Harry’s and Neville’s faces in the Great Hall that morning. They looked like neither of them had slept. And Harry’s Ace was still missing. Draco was pretty sure she couldn’t have gone very far with the Castle’s wards up and all but the fact that none of the staff found her was pretty weird. Harry and Neville quickly filled him in about what happened the previous night and once more, Draco regretted not being in the same House as them. 

They ate breakfast together even though Draco knew he was supposed to stay with his House for the first breakfast of the year. They needed to compare their timetables anyway so that was a good excuse as any. At least they had more classes together this year. Draco had Ancient runes with Harry, Muggle studies with Neville and Care of magical creatures with the both of them. They still had Potions together too. 

Draco looked up at Severus at the head table. He seemed to be in a bad mood… Probably because Professor Lupin was talking to him early in the morning. Draco could probably talk to him later. 

“I have a free period now, I’ll walk you to the Divination classroom,” he told his two friends, hoping to cheer them up a little. 

It seemed like a lost cause though and Draco retreated to the library afterwards to prepare for his next Charm class. Professor Flitwick was as lively as ever. Blaise sat next to him and chatted a bit during the lesson. It felt normal and somehow comforting, so Draco managed to find some courage back. 

At lunch, he immediately noticed how agitated the First Years Slytherins were. They were all interrogating one of their owns and that’s the first time Draco met her. 

She was small and looked just like the drawings Harry had made of her despite her short hair. She reminded him of Harry in first year. She seemed to carefully avoid any physical contacts with people around her and wasn’t engaging at all in the conversation with her classmates. Some of them seemed to grow more and more annoyed by her behaviour. Noticeably, Cygnus Crabbe was seating in front of her. Draco knew him because he was the heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Crabbe and the first cousin of Vincent Crabbe who was sharing his dorm... Lord Crabbe, Cygnus’s father, was Draco’s father’s business partner and even more of a blood purist than his own parents. At least, the Malfoys were trying to change their point of view or pretend to accept other points of view. But the Crabbes… it was bad. 

That was when Harry passed by him without even acknowledging him. The Gryffindor went straight to his childhood friend and Draco knew it was wrong to feel so hurt by that situation, but he couldn’t stop himself. 

Ace didn’t even look up when Harry addressed her. She rightfully ignored him. She seemed pretty upset. However, what worried Draco more was the way the other first years reacted. Harry didn’t know, he wasn’t a Slytherin, but he was putting a foot in a very dangerous snake den. 

“I think you should go… Let’s eat at the Gryffindor table…” Draco whispered into Harry’s ear while trying to drag him away as calmly as possible. 

The attention of the first years was immediately on him – like predators who have found a new prey. 

“Oh Malfoy! Aren’t you worried that your betrothed is sharing a dorm with a mudblood tomboy?” Cygnus Crabbe asked. 

“Crabbe, five points from Slytherin,” Emeline Tremblay sighed. 

“I reckoned we should make sure she’s really a girl before the end of the day to protect Astoria’s purity,” Crabbe continued completely ignoring their 6th-year Prefect. 

Draco could see that Harry was about to lose it. It was bad… Draco was trying to find a way to get him away from the Slytherin table without having to physically drag him. But then, the girl finally talked. 

“You, shut up, Har’,” she sighed, and Draco felt jealous about how easily the nickname left her lips. “This has nothing to do with you… What are you intending to do? Comparing your sizes? Because last time I checked, you had nothing to brag about anyway.”

It seemed like the whole Hall had become silent because Draco clearly heard Harry stuttered: “I… I was nine!”

The girl didn’t seem impressed. “Is it your way of saying you grew bigger? Because I don’t see why I should care.”

Draco forgot to breathe and clearly, so did Harry. 

“Oh! So, the mudblood can speak!” Crabbe laughed probably bothered that people had been ignoring him for too long. “I’m sorry Potter but it seems that your girlfriend just ditches you!”

It all happened really quickly. The girl tripped and unfortunately grabbed Crabbe’s tie in her fall. The boy’s face met the table in a loud crack. 

“Oh, sorry, I slipped…” she said but barely looked at the boy’s bleeding nose. “I think we should go, Tremblay,” she continued while looking at Tremblay as if nothing happened. “Professor Snape doesn’t seem like the kind who likes waiting…”

The 6th year prefect made a gesture to one of her friends to take care of Crabbe before leaving, she was probably sick of the boy already. 

“Harry, we should go,” Draco insisted before the confusion calmed down. 

He dragged Harry out of the Great Hall, crossing Neville’s eyes to be sure the other Gryffindor was following them. He got them to the kitchen. Harry had already barely eaten that morning and there was no way he would miss lunch too. 

As soon as Draco made him sit down, Harry crunched on himself.

“She hates me…” he muttered. 

Draco and Neville shared a look. Neville had been not far behind them in the Great Hall, so he probably heard everything. 

“I’m sure she didn’t…” he tried to reassure Harry. “You said that she thought you were dead, she’s probably just shocked and all…”

“I just wanted to talk to her! Why doesn’t she even let me explain?!!!” 

Neville hugged Harry tightly. Draco didn’t really understand what Harry had to explain. It was not his fault if the girl had run away before he had a chance to explain where he went… He didn’t even know she was a witch at the time. 

In his mind, the girl was unfair… 

“We should eat,” he said instead of expressing his thoughts. “How was your first Divination class?”

“The Professor said that my grandmother was sick,” Neville said flatly. 

“… and that I was going to die,” Harry added. 

Draco stared at them. “Well, I’m glad I didn’t take it then!” he decided while serving them from the huge salad bowl an elf had made appeared on their small table. 

“Hey! Couldn’t you at least pretend to sympathize?!” Neville scolded. 

“I heard she predicts a student death every year,” Draco shrugged. “As for your grandmother, I’m sure she will be thrilled to get an owl to know how she is…”

“She would probably scold me for thinking she’s too old to live alone…” Neville shuddered before starting to eat. 

Harry was still a bit lost in his thoughts though. “So, tell me Har’… how often the two of you were naked around each other? And how small are we talking about?” Draco finally asked and managed to steal a small smile from his best friend. 

“Shut up!” Harry laughed back and eventually took a fork in his hand.

The rest of their discussion remained mainly on Harry’s and Neville’s Divination class which seemed to be a safe subject. They shared a fair amount of jokes and by the time they went to the Forest for their first Care lesson, the mood of the two Gryffindors had turned significantly lighter. 

That was of course until Professor Hagrid designated Harry to demonstrate how to handle a wild hippogriff. After a scarce explanation, the half-giant pushed Harry in front of the beast. Thankfully, it went well… maybe a bit too well though as their teacher’s next move had been to put Harry on the top of the giant bird-horse and to set it to fly. 

Draco heard Neville’s gasp next to him as they watched their best friend flying away. It was insane. What was Hagrid thinking?!! Hippogriffs were wild animals! He couldn’t control them, could he? What if this one never comes back?!! What if Harry falls? His father had told him that the half-giant had been expelled from Hogwarts before taking his OWLs so his wand must have been destroyed! Did that mean that he could do nothing if Harry falls or if he gets hurt or something?!!! 

“Ah! That’s our best seeker! I tell you, Harry’s born to be in the air! He’s a natural!” Weasley laughed behind him and Draco looked back to glare at him. 

Was he stupid enough not to see how dangerous this whole situation was?! He also crossed Granger’s eyes. At least she seemed to think it was irresponsible from their teacher too. 

“Err… Professor? How are you going to make sure Harry comes back?” she asked. 

Hagrid laughed joyfully. “Oh! It’s not that difficult!” and he let out a loud whistle while waving what looked like a dead rabbit above his head. 

A few seconds later, the bloody hippogriff appeared again but Draco only released the breath he was holding when it was close enough to see that Harry was still on top of it. As soon as the creature crashed on the ground, Harry’s limp body slipped from it and Neville would have run to him if Draco hadn’t stopped him long enough to make him bow in front of the beast. The hippogriff nodded at them before returning to his meal. 

“Are you okay?” Neville whispered while crouching next to Harry. 

“A bit dizzy, it’s all…” Harry muttered back. 

“Come on Harry! It wasn’t that bad!” Hagrid joked loudly. “You’ve always been a natural in the air! Can’t be that different from a broom!”

Draco glared at the alleged teacher. “Are you kidding?” he sneered behind his teeth. “Don’t you see how bad this could have turned?!!! Harry could have died! Even if it was just like riding a broom, you could have at least asked him if it was okay before throwing him on top of a stupid murderous feral beast!! You’re clearly completely unfit to be a professor if you can’t even ensure…”

Draco couldn’t finish his sentence. He hadn’t noticed how the sky had suddenly darkened above him. The only thing he heard was his friends’ cries. 

“Draco!!! Watch out!!!”

Draco looked back just in time to see the giant hippogriff on his back legs. He raised a protective arm, but it was too late. Excruciating pain exploded in his forearm and he fell on the floor.

He knew he was yelling more than he really heard himself. He had never experienced this kind of pain before. It was as if his arm was burning. Everything had disappeared around him. Why was his sleeve soaking wet suddenly? It hurt so bad…

A foreign hand grabbed his arm and bound his robe sleeve tightly around the wound. Draco panicked at first, afraid to hurt even more but the pressure actually numbed the pain, somehow.

“Draco, calm down,” Harry whispered while still holding his arm. “Hagrid, you need to take him to the Infirmary, now!” he said louder above his shoulder.

“Alright, alrigh’”, Hagrid complied. “Someone helps me – got to get him out of here…”

Next thing he knew, Draco was lifted from the ground by the half-giant who started running to the Castle. 

The old matron didn’t seem very impressed by her colleague when they arrived at the Hospital Wings. 

“Was the hippogriff up to date on his mandatory vaccinations?” she asked while inspecting Draco’s wound. 

“Err… There are feral… it’s been a while since a magizoologist has…”

“Are you telling me that you let your 3rd-year students unsupervised around feral category 3 creatures on their first Care for Magical Creatures class, ever???” she cut him. 

“They weren’t really unsupervised… I was…”

But she wasn’t listening anymore. “Linkle!” She called and the elf appeared. “Please alert Professor Snape that I need to transfer one of his students, Draco Malfoy, to St Mungo's so he can have preventive magical rabies shots.”

“Why does he need rabies shot???” Harry’s alarmed voice exclaimed from the door. 

Draco turned his head to see that his two best friends were standing out of breath near the Hospital Wing entrance. 

“Unvaccinated beasts can carry the disease,” Neville explained quickly next to him. “Gran always forbids me to touch them… she got so mad that one time I picked up a Puffskein in the garden…”

“…Am I gonna..die?” Draco managed to ask. 

The matron gave him a stern look. “You’re not going to die, Mr Malfoy. If the vaccine is taken during the first twelve hours following the exposure, it has a 90% success rate.“ She inspected his wound one last time before bandaging it with clean clothes. 

“Stop! It hurts!!” Draco shrieked. 

“I’m sorry Mr Malfoy, I can’t give you anything as it could react with the vaccine. We need to wait for Professor Snape to take you to St Mungo’s.”

The few minutes that followed were certainly the worst of Draco’s life. His arm was burning. He was trying his best not to cry in front of his friends, but it was hard. What if he loses his arm?!! How would he play Quidditch then?! This time, he will lose his position in the Slytherin team, that was certain! 

Draco squeezed his injured arm. It hurt. But at least it was still there… but for how long??!

Draco was so caught in his own nightmares that he barely noticed when Severus entered the room. After a short explanation from Madam Pomphrey, the Potion Master flooed them to St Mungo's where Draco was immediately taken by specialists. 

He didn’t remember much from this point as the next thing he knew was waking up to soft strokes of his hair. 

“Mother?” he called as he opened his eyes. 

“Hello, my dragon, how do you feel?” Narcissa asked. 

Draco tried to straighten up and notice that his arm was heavily bandaged. He felt like the rest of his body was made of cotton.

“W-what happened?” he asked while giving up. 

“You’ve got your first shot against magical rabies a few hours ago and your body is still adjusting,” she explained. “Severus flooed us. Your father went to Hogwarts to understand how a feral hippogriff managed to hurt you during a supervised lesson… You will need to stay here until the end of the weekend. They will give you another shot on Sunday morning and, according to how your body reacts, you might be able to go back to school on Monday.”

Draco grimaced. He will be missing their first weekend and with how bad the semester had started for Harry and Neville he really didn’t want to leave them alone for too long… “What about my arm? Why didn’t they heal it? They can fix it, right? Flint will be so mad if I can’t train properly!” 

His mother smiled softly. “It needs to heal naturally as it might be infected and there is a risk that they miss it if they heal it too quickly. They applied a salve though, so it shouldn’t hurt anymore.”

Draco looked at his injured arm. He couldn’t move it, but it wasn’t hurting anymore, indeed. “How long?” he asked. 

“About six weeks?”

“It’s too long!!!” he exclaimed jolting up. “Slytherin-Gryffindor Quidditch match is during the first week of November! Flint will never let me fly if…”

However, his mother shushed him before he could finish. 

“Calm down, Draco. A Quidditch match is less important than your health!” she scolded. “I’m sure the Quidditch Referee will understand and offer to postpone your match… I’ll make sure Severus talks to her.”

Draco looked down. He didn’t want to miss Quidditch… 

“You should go back to sleep. Rabies preventive vaccination is quite intrusive, and you need to rest…” his mother said forcing him to lie back. 

“Will you still be there later?” Draco asked and immediately felt stupid for doing so. He wasn’t a kid anymore; he could stay in St Mungo’s without his parents around H24!

“I won’t go anywhere,” his mother answered nonetheless relieving him more than he would care to admit. 

The next time Draco woke up, his parents were talking quietly next to his bed. 

“… the beast will be put down…” his father was saying. “It attacked a wizard, there is no other option.”

“What about the half-breed?” his mother asked. 

“Dumbledore is protecting him as always… He’s so incompetent! If Dumbledore had consulted the Board before hiring him as a teacher…”

Draco unconsciously moved his injured arm and grunted, drawing his parents’ attention. 

“Are you awake my dragon?” his mother asked. 

Draco nodded and forced his eyes open. 

“Good evening, Father…” he mumbled, and his father smirked. 

“More like ‘good morning’, son. You’ve been out all night.”

Draco eyed at the permanent tempus charm on the wall and rolled his eyes. Of course, his father was right. 

“How do you feel?” Narcissa asked. 

“Okay… I guess…” he answered while straightening up. His stomach grumbled uncharacteristically. “I’m hungry…” he admitted. 

“I’ll ask one of our House-elves to prepare something,” his mother smiled before exiting the room. 

Draco stayed alone with his father which hadn’t happened in quite some time. After their argument about Muggle Studies, Draco had unconsciously avoided the man during summer. He just didn’t know how to speak to him anymore. He wondered how disappointed his father would be if he discovered the true reason why he took that class… probably a lot… 

“So? Quite a first day?” his father asked. 

Draco grimaced. “It wasn’t intentional.”

“Insulting a feral hippogriff while standing back to it seems pretty careless for a Slytherin…”

“I was upset because that stupid half-giant almost killed my best friend and I wasn’t thinking…”

“Obviously,” Lucius smirked. 

Draco looked down. He hated being judged like that. He knew he had been stupid, no need to remind him. After some time, he heard his father sigh. 

“Severus told me that Potter’s friend had been in Hogwarts?” he asked to change the subject. 

“She is. She’s been sorted into Slytherin,” Draco said. 

“How is she?”

Draco took his time to answer that question. He didn’t really know what to tell. 

“Small? I don’t know… I’ve barely seen her. She’s sharing her dorm with Astoria apparently. They think she’s a muggleborn and Cygnus Crabbe is in her year, so I guess it’s going to be complicated for her…”

“Are you going to intervene?”

“Will you be in trouble with Lord Crabbe if I do?”

“It depends on how you deal with it. It’s not as if House Crabbe had been of great help last year when you needed it…”

Draco grimaced. “I’ll talk to Vincent to see if he can control his cousin… I can’t just let her be and look away. She’s Harry’s best friend.”

“He must be thrilled.”

“He’s upset because she is mad at him for some reasons. He wasn’t doing so great yesterday, and neither was Neville… Harry seems to think his friend had been under the Cruciatus curse when she was just a toddler…” 

His father didn’t comment. It was unusual. Shouldn’t he tell something like ‘it’s insane’ or ‘nobody would put a toddler under the Cruciatus’, or anything? Aren’t kids supposed to be sacred in the Wizarding World??

“Would someone in the Black family capable of doing something like that? Even if they thought she was a squib?” he dared to ask. 

Lucius looked at him and then at the door. He didn’t answer. 

“Some people might have…” his mother’s voice answered instead. “Our family carries some defectives genes and some of us had been… not in their right mind all the time.”

“So, they could have casted the Cruciatus on a toddler?” Draco repeated, suddenly very glad that most of his mother’s family was either dead or in Azkaban. 

“I don’t know…” Narcissa admitted. 

“They were certainly insane enough to cast in on a twelve-year-old for being sorted in the wrong House…” Lucius commented under his breath.

“Lucius, that’s enough!” his wife reprimanded him, and Draco immediately understood that he wouldn’t know more on that matter. “Anyway, Tipsy will be here shortly. They made your favourite _blanquette_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! It was supposed to be just one chap in pov Draco but it turned out to be two... I'm currently working on chapter 9 so I guess you won't have to wait for chapter 5 for too long! 
> 
> Feedbacks are always welcomed!!!
> 
> Thank you for reading and see you again soon!


	5. Chapter 5

Draco stayed at St Mungo’s until Monday morning when he was finally released and allowed back in Hogwarts. His left arm was still bandaged and useless, but he didn’t care. After a quick check-up with Severus who gave him the list of the homework he missed, he almost ran to the Great Hall, hoping to catch his friends before they finished breakfast. 

He wasn’t expecting to see Harry facing Ace in the middle of the Hall. She really looked like a boy with her short hair and boy uniform, but there was no doubt about her identity. The whole school was obviously listening to them, but Draco had no idea of what was going on. He spotted Neville and went to him instead of exposing himself by joining Harry. 

“What’s going on?” he whispered. 

Neville jolted away; he clearly wasn’t expecting him. “Draco! You’re back?? How are you? Is your arm okay??”

Draco shrugged. “What’s up with them?” he asked nodding to Harry and his childhood friend. 

Neville followed his stare and sighed. “They’ve been at it since you left. I think they’re both running out of patience…”

And indeed, at this point, Harry started yelling which was very unlike him. 

“Won’t you just tell me where you’ve been??!!! Do you know how worried I was?!!”

“I don’t give a shit about your worries! It’s none of your business!” the girl snapped back.

“It is my business! You’re my best friend!”

“WAS your best friend,” she corrected. “Two years is a very long time Harry! I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore, so leave me the fuck alone!”

“Why are you like that?! What the hell did I do?!!”

“You perfectly know what you did!”

Harry seemed so hurt by her words. She had no rights! Draco was ready to intervene, but Neville held him back. 

“I… I don’t know what they told you, but I’ve never lied to you…” Harry said defensively. 

This sentence seemed to upset the girl even more. “Don’t you think I know that????!!!!” she screamed. “I’ve never ever doubted you but clearly, it doesn’t go both ways! Don’t you get it?! I’m done with you!! So, if you don’t leave me the fuck alone, I’ll just stop coming here! I’ve already gone four days without food once, do you wanna bet if I could best that record?!!”

She was kidding, right? She wouldn’t really starve herself just to avoid talking to Harry? The silence in the Hall was sickening. Everyone was just waiting to hear Harry’s answer now. But it wasn’t coming, and the girl didn’t wait for it any longer. She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room. 

Everyone started gossiping as soon as she walked past the door. Harry was frozen in place and after a minute without reaction of his part, Draco and Neville decided to join him. 

“Are you okay?” Draco asked. 

Harry blinked as if he didn’t understand what his friend was talking about and then forced a small smile on his face. He looked horribly fake. 

“Oh, Draco, you’re back? How are you? Is your arm going to be okay?”

“It’s okay. I just need to let it heal naturally as magic can foster infections…” Draco explained quickly. “What about you?”

Harry grimaced. “You saw, didn’t you…”

“Does she mean it? Going without food just to avoid you?” Neville asked. 

Draco noticed that some people were still listening carefully to what they were saying. “Maybe we should talk about that somewhere else…” he suggested.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, we should go directly to the Dungeon, Snape’s class will begin soon… Do you need help with your books Draco?”

Draco shook his head. “It’s already in the room. I needed to see Snape before coming here.”

During their journey to the dungeons, Harry explained to them that Ace had always been quite stubborn so he believed her when she told that she would starve herself if he kept trying to reconnect. He was clearly feeling bad about it. 

They had little time to chat during their Potion class as Neville and Harry had to help Draco chop his ingredients. 

“Are you going to be okay for Quidditch?” Harry asked around the end of the class. 

“Snape told me that we’ll probably switch the first match with Hufflepuff. I’m not sure if it’s set yet…”

“Tell me as soon as you know, Wood would want to rethink our whole strategy…”

“Isn’t that insider trading?” Neville joked. 

“I didn’t know you knew that term, Nev’…” Draco smirked. 

“Hey, I’m the Heir of a Most Ancient and Noble House too!” the chubby Gryffindor scoffed. 

The three of them were too busy chuckling to notice that their professor was now hovering around their post station. 

“If you dare add that second rat spleen, Longbottom, I’ll see you in detention…” he sneered, and Neville’s arm froze above the cauldron. “Malfoy, your current disability doesn’t exempt you from staying focused! Potter…” the professor stared down at the roots he was currently chopping and found nothing to say about them. “… less talking more chopping.”

He then went to another table and the three friends let out a common sigh. 

“Hey, Harry,” said Finnigan, leaning over to borrow Harry’s brass scales, “have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning – they reckon Sirius Black’s been sighted.”

“Where?” Weasley who was sharing the other Gryffindor table asked. 

“Not too far from here,” Finnigan seamed so excited that it made Draco sick. “It was a Muggle who saw him…”

Draco had to stop Neville to add too much leech juice at that point. He was trying to explain quickly what would have been the consequences if he had added more than a dash when a petulant voice attacked him. 

“Not too far from here… and as by pure coincidence, the Malfoys had been missing for 3 days… are you sure it’s safe to stay with him, Harry? What are the chances that he helps his _cousin_ to enter the school to get you?” Weasley asked. “Next thing you know, he would convince you that’s a good idea to go after him to get revenge yourself…”

Draco looked at him but noticed how Harry’s eyes were shining malevolently. “Take that back, Weasley!” he ordered. 

“What? Why? Don’t you see that he’s faking it just to get Hagrid sacked?!!”

“Weasley! Ten points from Gryffindor!” Severus’s voice resonated into the room before he stormed back to them. He ladled some of their potion up and allowed it to splash back into the cauldron. “Orange? Weasley, Finnigan? Didn’t you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn’t I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand?”

Draco, Harry and Neville decided to focus back on their own potion for the rest of the lesson. 

“Do everyone know that Black is after me?” Harry whispered to them at some point. 

“Well, it was on the papers that he betrayed your parents and mine back in 1981 but I didn’t read anything about it this summer…” Neville said. 

“Maybe his parents told him… but I don’t see why…” Draco said. “And I didn’t know that he was so knowledgeable about pureblood family tree either…”

“Ron hasn’t ever been knowledgeable about anything aside Quidditch, Wizarding Chest and food…” Harry sighed. “You’re right, it’s probably just his parents’ talking…”

They finished their potion that was now a perfect acid green and received an appreciative nod from Severus. It wasn’t the case for the Gryffindor’s table next to them though.

“A shame you didn’t take your rat with you today, Weasley. I would have loved to try your_creation_ on it. Five points from Gryffindor for failing so miserably.”

“What do you have now?” Draco asked his friend while they were cleaning their table. 

“Defence Against the Dark Art,” Neville said. 

“You?” Harry asked. 

“Herbology.”

“Lunch together? Headquarter?” Harry asked while avoiding his eyes. 

“We went there this weekend, it’s still up,” Neville provided. 

“If you want. I’ll drop by the kitchen on my way to the greenhouse to tell the elves,” Draco nodded. 

“Thanks,” the two Gryffindors smiled at him. 

This lunch was clearly a way to force Harry not to try and speak to Ace but they enjoyed their time together all the same. Apparently, the 3rd years had to deal with a boggart for their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Slytherin class had been on Friday so Draco missed it but from his friends’ face when they joined him for lunch, he didn’t regret it.

“What happened?” he asked a very pale Neville. 

“I… I didn’t manage to…” he just shook his head. 

Draco eyed Harry quizzingly. “Can I tell him?” Harry asked Neville first. The other nodded while dropping on a cushion on the floor. “Neville’s boggart was… us. Telling him that we’re just pretending to be friends with him because we pity him…”

“Neville, that’s not true!!” Draco exclaimed immediately. 

“I know! I know… it’s just… Can we just stop talking about it?” he pleaded. 

And who were them to refuse him? Draco turned to Harry. “What about yours?”

Harry sighed. “Lupin didn’t let me go against it… He probably thinks that I’m too weak from what happened on the train or something…”

“I’m sure that’s not true!” Draco argued and wondered why the three of them were such a mess this year. 

“Anyway! Let’s eat!” Harry declared to change the subject. 

And it worked. They managed to go for almost thirty minutes without talking about boggarts, Black or Ace… but it could only go that long. 

“Draco, can I ask you a favour?” Harry asked as they finished dessert. 

“Of course, anything,” Draco answered promptly. “What is it?”

“Could you…” he sighed on his own inability to form a correct sentence. “Could you look after her in Slytherin? I… She doesn’t seem to have that many friends there…”

Draco nodded. He didn’t need to say more. 

“You’re just as stubborn as her, aren’t you?” he smirked softly. 

“Shut up,” Harry answered with an easy smile that didn’t look fake this time and Draco could only think about how much he had missed that.

It took a few days to Draco to finally get the opportunity to talk to that girl who was ruining his best friend’s life. 

He had just come back from the most psychologically exhausting Quidditch training – there’re not so many things he could do with only one hand but Flint insisted that he had to come to every practice so he wouldn’t lack on their strategy meeting… and the handicap was a great way to work on his balance! Anyway, it was late but there was no class the next day as it was Saturday and so Slytherin Common Room was still quite packed. 

He spotted the group of noisy First Years before he spotted her specifically. They were in a recluse area of the Common Room which Draco knew to be Theodore Nott’s favourite spot. It was usually a quiet spot reserved for people who didn’t want to take part in any networking or political manoeuvre that tended to take place in the main area of the room. Harry’s Ace was seating in a big armchair and seemed to be reading her transfiguration book… Well, at least she tried as four of her classmates were currently surrounding her.

“Is that true what the Gryffindors are saying? Have you really been under the Cruciatus??? How does it feel???”

Draco repressed a sighed on how insensitive those younger students were… It was as if with every year, the 1st year became smaller, stupider and ruder… He felt old.

“It felt like one thousand white-hot knives, boring into your skin, into your every nerve until you wish you were dead already… Seemingly but not quite like what your screeching voices are currently doing to my ears so why don’t you just go somewhere else where I can’t hear you?” Nott’s boring voice answered.

The first years seemed to hesitate. 

“Now,” Nott specified, and they finally dispersed. Ace was the only one to stay, pretending to read her book as if nothing just happened. “Do you want something, Malfoy?” Nott asked him. 

Draco nodded at his classmate. He knew Nott hated to be disturbed while he was reading and would warn off anyone who would come near to his spot and not respect its peacefulness. As Nott’s father was pretty old, he was the most likely to become the Lord of his House before he turns 30 and thus was quite respected among the Slytherins. Draco had himself used that spot next to him the previous year when he was trying to keep a low profile because of the Slytherin Heir’s rumour. 

“I wanted to have a word with her, actually,” he explained calmly. “It shouldn’t be long.”

“If you say so…” Nott sighed. “Keep it quiet then…”

“Sure,” Draco answered. He noticed that the girl was now looking at him suspiciously from over her book. “Hi,” he said. “My name is Draco Malfoy…” 

He presented his hand, but the girl didn’t take it. She was staring directly at his eyes, probably noticing how similar they were to her owns. He sighed softly. “So… I don’t really know how I should call you as it came to my knowledge that you’re not really fond of the name ‘_Islington_’…”

She frowned and finally looked away. 

“June is fine…” she mumbled staring back at her book. 

“Ok. Then you can call me Draco, if you want. I heard a lot about you, you know? I… I’m one of Harry’s friends…” he explained.

She sneered but didn’t comment. 

“Just for the record, he didn’t ask me to come and talk to you,” Draco specified. “I know you told him to leave you alone and that he tries his best to respect that but… just so you know… he never forgot. I’ve seen him having panic attacks and mental breakdowns because of you during the past two years and… he cares. He’d never stopped to care. You mean the world for him and he’s one of my best friends so, if anyone ever bothers you again, they should know that House Malfoy has your back and that we always pay our debts…” Draco was plainly conscious of the deadly silence in the Common Room right now. He knew everyone was listening to him and it was exactly what he had planned. 

“I don’t need your help…” Ace sneered between her clenched teeth. 

“I know. But if anyone crosses you again, they should know that I’ll go after them… and that my father’s patience had run short after last year incident so that there will be political and financial repercussions…” He smiled sadly. “Don’t stay mad at him for too long… I hate seeing him miserable.”

He left after that and waited to be back in his dorm room to let go of his breathing. It had been long since he had played Slytherin politics! Last year was behind him, he could do that! 

He couldn’t help a smirk. He had noticed how the girl had tensed when he had mentioned Harry’s mental stability… She still cared. There was still hope! 

Severus Snape was having a very bad school year. 

It was the last week of September, the full moon was due for the next weekend and he had to deliver his first batch of Wolfbane Potion to Lupin. 

It was unnerving to see how quickly Lupin had been accepted by the students and the rest of the staff alike. Of course, the last few Defence Against the Dark Art teachers hadn’t set the bar very high, but still, Severus would have like to spend at least a day without hearing everyone praising his school-day nemesis’s abilities… Even his Slytherins seemed to be under his _charm_! It was insufferable.

Severus was about to knock to the wolf’s office when the door opened on its own and his other main headache of the last month appeared in front of him. 

“Your curfew was ten minutes ago, Islington. You have nothing to do here,” he snarled. 

The girl didn’t seem impressed at all and would certainly have insulted him like she always did if Lupin hadn’t answered for her. 

“It’s my fault, Severus. I kept June back a bit longer than I intended to. I gave her a pass and she promised me to go straight to her Common Room now,” the man dared to smile at him. 

“Is that so?” Severus sneered. “Then what are you still doing here, girl? Go.”

The girl sniggered as she passed him, and Severus clearly heard her muttering a very discrete and yet very distinct ‘_asshole_’ before she disappeared. That girl should definitely have been in Gryffindor… However, luckily for her, she was a Slytherin and Severus hated taking points from his own House, so he pretended that he didn’t hear. 

“Are you here for the potion?” Lupin asked him. “Come on in, don’t stay in the corridor. Can I serve you something?”

Severus rolled his eyes when the wolf turned his back and gestured him to follow him inside his office. He initially just planned to drop off the potion, certainly not making small talk with the bloody beast. 

“What did Islington want?” he asked. 

“June? Oh, nothing… I noticed she had that muggle device, a _walk-man_? They used it to listen to music… Anyway, she had one and it didn’t seem to work here because of magical statics interference and all, so I offered my help. We had had the same issue back then when James smuggled in a tv because he suddenly wanted to see a muggle football Premier League. We had had to come up with a runic localized ward. It took us weeks! It had been quite a project! Anyway, I adapted it to June’s device, and it seems to work just fine now!”

“Wonderful…” Severus sneered. “The fact that smuggling in muggle devices is against the school rules or that magically modifying said muggle devices is reprehensible by law didn’t seem to be an issue then…”

Lupin grimaced. “Come on, Snape. Live a little! The girl is alone in a foreign world, I just wanted to give her some comfort!” 

Severus sighed. He hated Gryffindors… 

“I imagine you don’t use this concern and proximity with the girl to learn more about who she is, where she comes from and who initiated her to our world?”

Lupin sighed too and shook his head. “She closes off every time I or anyone else ask something personal about her… She wouldn’t even tell me how she bought the Walkman device or who made the tape compilation that goes with it. It clearly wasn’t her handwriting…”

“I see. Did you ask her about Black?”

“Why would I do that?! Don’t tell me you still believe she could be Sirius!” 

Severus sneered. “Still on a first name basis then? I see I’m right to suspect you might still willingly help that bastard… After all, you two were…”

“I’ll never willingly help that traitor!!” Lupin growled and Severus had to repress a shiver when his amber eyes shined like those of a wolf. “If anything, I’m here because I hope I could be the one to put him down for what he did! Dumbledore knows that!”

“What Dumbledore knows or believes hardly matters to me, wolf,” Severus said. “If you have the opportunity, you should ask the girl about Black.”

“Why?!”

“The boy uniforms she’s wearing, it belongs to Regulus Black.”

The wolf didn’t respond at first. He just stared. 

“You’re kidding right?!”

“Do I cross you as the kind who kids around, Lupin? No, I’m not _kidding_. One of the house-elves came to me a few days ago because they had collected a uniform which didn’t seem to belong to any student currently at school…”

He had thought about Draco at first, even though it wasn’t like the Malfoys to dress their son in second-hands robes. The boy had denied when he confronted him, but Islington had been nearby in the Common Room at the time and accused him of stealing her stuff… She panicked when he called an elf to deliver her clothes. Severus had barely slept the next night while thinking about what the girl told Draco when he had tried to explain to her that house-elves were armless. 

_“Yeah? And what do you think would happen if its master orders it to hurt you?”_

He grimaced again while remembering it. Some days he was very glad that his father had been poor and a muggle… Magical child abusers were always so much worse…

“I asked her where she got it a few times, but she never clearly answers that kind of questions,” Lupin said. “The only piece of information that I got is that she won’t wear a skirt because, I quote, she doesn’t want to ‘give _them_ a reason’. A reason for what or who is ‘them’, she wouldn’t tell.”

Severus stared at Lupin wondering if he was the one kidding this time. “Based on the fact that it’s one of her favourite topics of conversation or rather insinuation, ‘_a reason for anyone to rape her_’, I would say.”

“She’s just 11!” Lupin exclaimed outraged. 

“And she’s clearly been living in the street for at least a few months. Muggle society doesn’t care much about age as long as she has a cute face and an unfortunate life. They would say that it’s her fault for being outside late or dressing provocatively… She seems to be very aware of all that…”

“She is just 11 years old!!” Lupin repeated. 

Severus sighed. He had read the girl’s file; he knew her baggage. Her foster father had accused her of having seduced him, she hadn’t denied or said anything, and thus, it had been enough to reduce that bastard’s sentence…That was 2 years ago so she would have been only 9 at the time… The world was how so very wrong indeed. 

The girl needed therapy, but he couldn’t see any of them manage to convince her to do so. Their best shot would be Potter – if the two of them managed to make amends. However, Severus very well knew that some friendships couldn’t be fixed no matter how willing the offending part was…

“Anyway, here’s your potion. You should take it every morning and every night until the full of next weekend.” 

“Dumbledore said that with the Wolfsbane Potion, I don’t need to lock myself in the Shack… Do you agree with him?”

“Lupin, if Dumbledore needed my agreement for his every decision, you wouldn’t be here. Do whatever you want. The potion will work, don’t you dare question my abilities. I should go now.”

With that, he left without acknowledging the ‘_Good night and thank you_’ his _colleague_ sent at him. He hated small talk and he hated Lupin. He couldn’t wait for that year to be over and for the Curse to take that stupid wolf away! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there.   
It"s kind of a short chapter this time because chapters 4 and 5 were initially one and only chapter but it was too long as it was!   
Anyway, I just finished writing chapter 10 and have loads of idea for the next chapters so you might have another chapter to read early in January! I promise Ace and Harry will make up soon!   
Please tell me what you think!!!


	6. Chapter 6

October 13th, Harry was fretting with anticipation. 

The Great Hall was almost completely full of students eager to have breakfast before starting their school day. Hogwarts had started again for little over a month now and everyone had more or less found their pace… However, it didn’t mean that things couldn’t change anymore and today, Harry intended to make things change very much. 

It’s been a little more than a month and Ace still hadn’t talked to him. Of course, he had tried to respect her wishes and to leave her some space, but it had been so hard! Thankfully, Draco had been bringing him back pieces of information from Slytherin – it helped that Draco’s future hypothetical wife was Ace’s dorm mate! 

Harry had met Astoria himself a few times. Even though Harry was still against that _betrothal_ principle, he had to admit that the girl was okay… even _nice_… maybe. She agreed to talk to them about Ace which was… really not ideal if Harry started thinking a bit too much and put himself in Ace’s shoes… but Harry decided that he didn’t want to think too much about it! Ace wouldn’t talk to him directly and he tried to respect that, but it didn’t mean that he could survive without knowing anything about what she was like now!

Ace was doing okay in class. She was very practical and had a hard time in transfiguration… She apparently had a fight with McGonagall because she couldn’t understand the need to learn the spell to transfigures mice into snuffboxes and that she wouldn’t even try it without knowing what exactly the mice would feel under that kind of spell – explanation that McGonagall failed to provide if not by repeating that transfiguring humans into unanimated objects is incredibly dangerous and forbidden by the law. 

Ace seemed to argue with teachers often. Harry had to explain to Astoria what a ballpoint pen was as Ace apparently refused to switch to quills despite Snape’s insistence. 

What worried Harry most was the fact that Ace seemed to have a hard time settling in. She didn’t have any friend and apparently didn’t even unpack. She was always wearing her uniform, even on the weekends – as Harry did in his first year, Neville had pointed out. Astoria had told them that sometimes, she had doubted that Ace was sleeping in their dorm at all. Draco had assured him numerous times that he had made sure that most Slytherins wouldn’t mess with her or anything, but Harry wasn’t at ease… Ace was very good at hiding when something was wrong after all.

Daisy hadn’t been impressed at all by all those elements when Harry told her during his therapy session. Harry hadn’t planned on telling her everything, but it seemed that he couldn’t stop himself when he was talking about Ace. The mindhealer had been the one to convince him to respect his friend’s wish to be left alone. She forced him to realise what was really important. His friend was alive and was safe here at Hogwarts. She had access to three meals a day and a warm bed for the next 9 months at least. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know what had happened to her during the last two years, she might tell him one day, but it would be her choice. For now, if he still cared about her, he should respect her and just be glad to know her safe and sound. 

Harry did try to argue that technically, he had respect her wishes as he never went to talk to her directly again. Daisy had just stared at him until he stopped finding petty excuses for his behaviour and then gave him a lecture about privacy and stalking behaviours. 

Despite all that, Harry didn’t really manage to feel bad or to completely stop seeking any piece of information on his best friend. Thanks to that, he had learnt some things that he could not just let lie! 

So, he had prepared. For weeks! In secret for this perfect surprise. He just hoped it would work and that Ace would finally forgive him and understand that he was still her friend! 

“Harry? Do you want more tea?” Neville asked next to him. 

“Huh? Yup, thanks!” He smiled at him while forcing himself to stop staring at the Slytherin table. “They’re late, no?”

“Nope, they usually don’t arrive before 7:45…” Draco smirked while sipping his own cup of tea. 

Harry groaned. 

“Don’t worry, Harry. I’m sure she’ll like it! It’s really nice after all,” Neville reassured him. 

They both knew what Harry was waiting for. They had helped him get it after all. Draco had put him in touch with his mother’s personal stylist. Neville’s grandmother had helped transform the muggle pattern for it to fit both the magical and the muggle fashion style. The three of them had worked with the Twins to set a list of charms and runes that could be put in the fabric to protect its owner from environmental elements. 

Thanks to them, Harry had created a reversible hoodie in dark green colour with a stylized Slytherin crest on one side and a more casual plain black colour and the other. The piece of clothing was magically designed to self-adjust to its holder’s size and was charmed to keep warm and resist water and fire. It had been crafted in the finest fabric so it wouldn’t get torn easily. It was just the best thing he could have possibly think of! 

The owls finally arrived, and Harry immediately spotted Hedwig. The snowy bird made a large turn and finally dove to the Slytherin table. Harry forced himself to breathe as his owl left a large package in front of Ace. If Draco and Neville knew what was inside, they didn’t know the content of the note that accompanied it. That was the part that was truly worrying Harry. He had spent almost a month writing it and knew by heart by now. 

He could see that Ace had open the package and was reading it right now. She was too far for him to see her expression. After long minutes, she got up, taking the package with her. It was a good sign, right? But then she walked in direction of the Gryffindor table, her eyes were fixed to the ground. Harry started worrying again. 

She stopped right in front of Harry and didn’t move at all. She didn’t look up. She didn’t speak. She barely even breathed. She just stayed there. 

“Ace?” Harry finally called for her. 

And as if it was what she was waiting for, she threw his package at him. 

“What’s the meaning of this???? Why?!! Why the fuck are you making it so fucking hard to be mad at you????!!!” she yelled, finally meeting his eyes. 

Her silver eyes were melting, she was on the edge of crying. 

“I… I don’t want you to be mad at me…” he said as calmly as possible. 

“That’s not your fucking call!” she argued back. “I want to be mad at you.”

“Why?!”

“Because…” she started answering before a sob caught her voice. “Because you’re not dead!”

Harry didn’t know what to say as she started crying in front of him. He wanted to hold her, to hug her… but she would probably reject him, right? 

“You’re mad at me because I’m not dead?” he repeated slowly. “Would you rather have me dead?”

“No! Of course not, you asshole! It’s not… no!”

She was crying so much and leant a bit in his direction. It was Harry’s clue to finally make a move and hug his lost friend. She didn’t reject him. He wished they were somewhere a bit more private though because the whole school was once again looking at them. He had anticipated this situation though and just glanced quickly to the Twins and Cedric – who was taking his breakfast with them. The group of 5th-years nodded and cast a privacy charm around Harry and Ace. 

“Ace… I need to understand…” he whispered softly into her ear when she calmed down a little. “If you wouldn’t rather be to be dead, what is it? Why are you so mad at me?”

She didn’t react at first and then finally straightened up to look at him. 

“Because… if… if you’re not dead and you’re safe and… free… it means… it means that you just fucking left. You went on with your life and you just fucking left me there!!! You knew and you fucking left me!!!” she cried, and something crashed into Harry’s heart. 

“I… I didn’t leave you Ace… I… I didn’t have a choice…” Harry took a deep breath; he couldn’t crack down now. He had to be strong and tell her. “When I got my acceptance letter, two years ago, I wasn’t in Little Whinging. Vernon had taken us away to avoid the owls and Hagrid came to tell me all about this magical world and who my parents were and who I was… Then, he took me shopping in Diagon Alley and then back to the Dursleys who locked me into my room. I couldn’t get out of the house at all during August and… I tried! I tried to tell you! They didn’t give me a choice! I didn’t intend to leave you behind! Even after I’ve gotten here, I tried to contact you to tell you!!! I promise!”

“Well you should have tried harder!” she said between her tears. “I thought they had killed you Har’… They could have fucking killed you and no one was giving a shit!!! I thought that you died because I was the one leaving you behind to go and see Kate’s baby… I thought it was my fucking fault…”

“It wasn’t your fault and it has never been!” Harry screamed at her. He was crying too by now, but he tried his best to control his voice again. He took her face in his hands and stared at her eye to eye. “Even if they had killed me, it wouldn’t have been your fault, you hear me? And I’ll never go back there! I talked; you see. The magical social services believed me this time and they took me away. I’m safe now and I just want to be sure you are too…”

“Liar… no one knows what happened to you… they all believed you’re some kind of fucking spoiled brat who lives in luxury…” 

Harry grimaced. He knew it was delusional to think that Ace hadn’t been exposed to the _’Boy-Who-Lived’_’s gossips but he had still hoped to be the one to tell her what was really going on in his life. 

“I did talk. My closest friends know,” he explained, glancing quickly at Neville and Draco who were inside the privacy bubble with them. They both nodded solemnly to confirm when Ace looked at them. “It hadn’t been easy, and they really helped me. They could tell you if you want to… Now, their respective parents are trying to adopt me but it’s a bit complicated because of… well, it’s a long story.”

Ace stared at him. She seemed to have calmed down a bit. 

She sniffed. “So… you’re safe now? You don’t go back there on the Holidays?”

“No.”

“You did after you first year though…”

Harry blinked. “How do you know that?!”

“One of those monsters was taking your post… I thought it might work for your bloody aunt…”

“What monster?” Harry asked before connecting the dots by himself. “You met Dobby?!!” he whispered.

“Sorry to interrupt, guys,” Draco told them. “But class starts in 5 minutes… Maybe we could go back to that discussion over lunch?”

Harry stared at Ace full of expectation until she nodded. 

“I’ve fucking missed you…” she muttered. 

And a new kind of tears ran through Harry’s cheeks as he hugged his best friend one last time. 

‘_Hello Ace, _

_I know you told me to stay away and I tried but I want you to know that I miss you and this present is my last attempt to prove you that I still care about what we once had. I’m so glad that you’re not dead and that you’re okay. I have feared for the worst so often for the past two years that I can’t just let you go without telling you this! Even if we’re not friends anymore, I want you to know that I’m still so relieved that you’re here and nothing can change that! _

_I’ve done some research since September. You may not know but as a magical school, Hogwarts keeps track of every witch or wizard born in the UK so they could get their acceptance letter during the summer following their 11th birthday. I asked McGonagall if I could consult the Book of Admittance and she finally agreed. That’s how even if I still don’t know your real name, I’m very proud to inform you that you were born on October 13th, 1981 in magical London and that today is your real 12th official birthday. _

_Happy birthday Ace! _

_I miss you, _

_Harry_

_PS: you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want you. We can keep being strangers if it’s what you want. I just can’t stop caring and worrying about you. Sorry for being so selfish…_’ 

Even after being granted forgiveness, reconnecting with Ace wasn’t as easy as Harry had initially thought. 

Of course, she wasn’t avoiding him anymore and they talked from time to time, but Ace was far quieter than he remembered. He was afraid that she would get mad again if he asked too many questions, so he had to refrain himself. He thought she would have questions though, but she didn’t seem to be willing to voice them…

It was… awkward. 

At one point, Harry thought that maybe it was because Neville and Draco were often with him. Ace seemed wary of them. He caught her looking at them through the Great Hall a few times… Of course, he had tried to introduce them properly during that first lunch, but Ace had barely taken part in the discussion then. Then, there has been the time when they offered to eat in the kitchen as they often did when they wanted to avoid the crowd of the Great Hall. Ace had accepted at first but then had freaked out when she saw the House Elves working in the kitchen. 

Draco had told him back in September what Ace had said about the potential dangerousness of those seemingly harmless creatures and Harry couldn’t decide if that reflexion was purely logical or born from experience. That was one example of the kind of question he hadn’t find the courage to ask about yet… 

It was now the last weekend of October and the first Hogsmeade weekend to all the 3rd years except Harry. After much discussion, he had convinced Neville and Draco that they didn’t have to stay back with him. Harry had planned to spend some alone time with Ace anyway. The girl would certainly be more comfortable if his other friends really had other things to do. That would be the Halloween Feast anyway, and the three friends had decided to spend Samhain together in their Headquarter. They had informed the elves in the kitchen who had agreed to prepare some carry-on meals for them. 

“We’ll pass by Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and bring you back some carrot cupcakes,” Neville told him as Harry was sending them off in the Entrance Hall. 

“Mother always says that there are the best ones in the UK,” Draco confirmed. 

Harry smiled at them. “Thanks, guys. Stay safe, okay?”

“We will,” Neville nodded. 

“And you, stay out of troubles,” Draco smirked. 

“I’ll try,” Harry smirked back before leaving them as they were handing their authorization forms to McGonagall. 

Now he just needed to find Ace! He wondered if she was up yet… He hadn’t seen her at breakfast, yet she was rarely at breakfast during weekends. 

“Fred, George!” he called the Twins as they were walking in his direction. They were with Cedric and Lee Jordans. 

The group of 5th years greeted him and asked him how he was. 

“What can we do for you on this fine day?” George said. 

“Need help to sneak into Hogsmeade?” Fred continued. 

“No!” Cedric stopped them. “Harry, you know better than trying to get there when you’re not allowed to, right?” 

Harry grimaced but nodded. 

“Good. Because I’m a Prefect and I would hate to take away points to my honorary little brother!”

Harry’s grimaced turned into a smile. 

“Don’t worry Cedric, I have plans in the Castle for today. That’s why I need the twins actually… Do you happen to know where Ace is?”

“Why would they?” Cedric asked suspiciously. 

“Because they tend to know where everyone is all the time?” Harry smirked and the two Weasleys winked at him. 

“Maybe one day we’ll let you into that secret…”

“As for now…”

“We are very sorry, but your friend is the best hide-and-seek player we ever encounter…”

“Even our massive knowledge is no match to her talent…”

“It may be linked to the fact that we have yet to know her real name…”

They both shook their head in synch. “Sorry…”

“You two are hopeless…” Cedric sighed. “You’re in luck Harry, I happen to have seen her in the library while I was waiting for this bunch of stupid Gryffindorks… It was around 30 minutes ago but she might still be there.”

“Really? Thanks, Cedric!” Harry said, ready to run to the library right away. 

“Pleasure is mine. I’m glad you two made up,” Cedric said while stroking his mass of hair. He had taken that habit during the summer and Harry realized that he found that gesture strangely comforting. 

“Have a nice day,” Harry smiled. “And you guys, stop fraternizing with the enemy!!!!” He said while imitating Wood’s voice. 

They all laughed, and each went their way. 

“When did Potter become the brother of the Hufflepuff golden boy?” Harry heard Lee asked his friends. “Does Wood know that??”

Harry tried his best not to run as he went to the library, hoping that Ace would still be there. It was funny when he thought about it. The library was probably the place where they spent the most time together back in elementary school, and Ace had always been a good student… Yet, he couldn’t father the idea of her willingly go there if it was not for something else than avoiding being elsewhere. Ace wasn’t the studious kind. She always had ulterior motives… 

Harry said hello to Madam Pince as he passed by and she looked at him suspiciously. He spotted Ace right away, she was deep down a transfiguration book which seemed to be way above first-year level. 

“Hey, you,” Harry whispered as he sat at her table. 

She looked up and nodded at him before going back to her reading without a word. 

“What are you doing?”

“Research…” she mumbled. 

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at the page she was reading. It was about the Tentaclifors Jinx which was supposed to transfigure the head of the target into a tentacle. Harry grimaced. 

“Who are you planning to use this jinx on?” he asked. 

She shrugged. “No one specific. It just seems handy…”

“Is there still an issue with your classmates? Draco told me he made sure that most Slytherins don’t bother you too much…”

Once again, she shrugged. It seemed to be her main way of communicating lately… that and cursing. “It’s okay… they're just kids, I’ve seen worse…” 

“Most of them are older and have a better grasp of magic than you…”

“I know how to defend myself,” she snapped back. 

She was glaring at him now and they heard Madam Pince shushing them from her desk. 

“I’m sorry,” Harry whispered. “I… I know you know how to defend yourself. I’m just worried, I know how your House and this school can be. They went after Draco last year and… well, I just want to know that you’re safe…”

Ace looked at him intensively. “You do realize that I’m safer here than I might ever have been in my life, right?”

Harry nodded. He knew that feeling as he was thinking the same thing until last summer when he discovered what a real home felt like. And that was including the fact that he had had to face three-headed dogs, trolls and possessed professors in his first year. 

“Ace? Can’t you tell me at least one thing about where you have been for the past two years?” he asked carefully. 

The girl tried to put her short hair behind her ear unsuccessfully while eyeing at him carefully. He could see her brain racing through those perfect silver eyes. However, they were interrupted before she could answer. 

“Enough you two!” Madam Pince scolded them. “If you want to talk, there are plenty of other places in this Castle to do so. Now, off you go!”

Harry was ready to apologize so that Ace could stay and keep studying but his friend didn’t really seem to care as she was already up. Harry couldn’t help a soft smile when he recognized the old bookmark she was using. It was the one he had made for their first birthday together… Did she really keep that all that time?! 

“I’m taking that out if it’s okay?” she informed Madam Pince who agreed with a nod. “Come on,” she told Harry while taking up her backpack. 

Harry complied and followed her in the corridors. They didn’t really know where to go but just walking like that next to each other felt like a plan. They stayed silent for a moment, but Harry could see that Ace was thinking about something. Hopefully, it was the answer to his earlier question. 

“It… it wasn’t all that bad, you know…” she mumbled at some point. “I… Eventually, I found someplace to crash into… it was around at the end of summer last year, I think… dates didn’t really matter back then but… well, the place is _safe_ as no one knows it exists and no one goes there…”

“You… you live there alone?”

She shrugged. “It’s easier that way…”

Harry looked at her as they kept walking. He had so many questions. It was more than she ever told him and…

“Harry? June?” asked a voice from inside the room they just passed by. They doubled back and saw that it was coming from Professor Lupin. “What are you doing here?” he asked, curious. 

Ace shrugged once again so Harry answered. “Just walking around. Neville and Draco are in Hogsmeade.”

Lupin seemed to consider them for a moment. “Why don’t you come in? I’ve just taken delivery of a Grindylow for the 3rd-years’s next lesson.”

Harry would have been keen to decline as he really wanted to resume his discussion with Ace, but the girl was quicker. 

“A what?” she asked and followed Lupin into his office. 

Harry resigned to follow her and listened to their teacher explaining what the sickly-green creature currently residing in a large tank of water was. 

“Are there any in the Great Lake? Is there a way to make them show up at a specific location, let’s say, in the middle of the night, with a well-placed light…” Ace asked after some time. 

“Does that location happen to be Slytherin 1st year dorm room window?” Lupin smirked. 

“Possibly…” the girl answered pensively. 

Harry looked at them back and forth. He had never seen Ace acting so casually to anyone in the Castle except him… well, even him actually! It was as if the old Ace was back. 

“Cup of tea?” Lupin said, looking around for his kettle. “I was just thinking of making one.”

Ace shrugged and kept looking at the water demon. 

“All right,” Harry said awkwardly.

Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout. 

“Sit down,” the professor said. “I’ve only got teabags, I’m afraid – but I daresay you’ve had enough of tea leaves?”

Harry looked at him. Lupin’s amber eyes were twinkling, and it made him think of a younger Ace, in the playground… He hadn’t seen her with that kind of light in her eyes since she was at Hogwarts… He frowned slightly and his eyes switched to the back of his friend. He shook his head, it was stupid… there was still hope that this little girl was there, somewhere behind the cold and disinterest…

“How did you know about that?” Harry asked while looking back at his Defence teacher. 

“Professor McGonagall told me,” Lupin said. He had followed his gaze on Ace and send him a quizzingly look before passing him a chipped mug of tea. “June?” he called, and the girl turned back and nodded at him as to thank him for the cup of tea. 

“So… You guys had been childhood friends?” he asked casually to cut the silence. “I’m glad to see you made up!”

He was looking at Ace, but she just shrugged.

“Professor Snape told me that you had been looking for her last year, Harry? Is that true?”

Harry grimaced and looked at his friend before answering. She didn’t glare so he guessed he could be honest. 

“Yes… I managed to get in touch with the social service lady who was following her case during the summer and she told me that she has… run away. So, I was kind of worried.” She did look up at this point, but she didn’t seem to pressure him to shut up. “During that summer, I realized that she had been drawing runes over my _occasional_ injuries and then Draco suggested that we checked with Professor Babbling, and they were real runes! But you weren’t at Hogwarts so we guessed you might be a squib…”

“What is a squib?” Ace asked. 

Lupin was the one to answer and when he finished, Ace looked at Harry as if he was the dumbest person on earth. 

“That’s stupid, you knew I can do magic,” she said. 

“I didn’t!”

“You did! How do you think I could enter your locked cupboard at night? Do you think your Uncle forgot to lock it or something?”

“I… didn’t. I just thought that you knew how to pick the lock or something!” he answered defensively. “You’ve never told!”

“I didn’t know I had to. You’ve never _told_ me you could do magic either!”

“I didn’t know I could do magic!”

“You turned your 1st-grade teacher’s wig fucking blue!!! You vanished a glass in the zoo and set a boa to Dudley! We teleported to the kitchen fucking rooftop! How do you explain that if you couldn’t do magic?!!”

“The teleporting thing could have been your part and I… I don’t know! I didn’t know that magic existed at the time!!” Harry yelled back. “I didn’t know until Hagrid told me for my 11th birthday and I couldn’t see you afterwards and… It doesn’t matter! The thing is that you weren’t at Hogwarts last year and now I knew that you, at least, grew up around magic before you arrived in Little Whinging so there were only two explanations of why you weren’t there… Either you were a squib or you were dead and I preferred to believe in the former!”

They were glaring at each other now and had completely forgotten that they weren’t alone in the room until Lupin cleared his throat. 

“Or she could have just not been 11 yet…” he said. 

“We didn’t think about that…” Harry admitted. “Merlin, if you had been born just six weeks earlier, it would have been so much easier…” he sighed. 

Ace humphed and looked away. “Maybe I could just have chosen not to come too…” she muttered.

Harry looked at her, but she didn’t elaborate. It was already strange that they spoke that much on that topic. 

“Can we put music on?” she asked Lupin and the professor agreed. 

Harry looked at her while she’s rummaging on Lupin’s collection of vinyl records. The man didn’t seem bothered that she knew where they were. How many times did she come here to spend time with their teacher? Was the man safe? Harry thought he could trust him but yet, Ace has been through so much… he couldn’t take even the slightest risk!

She finally settled on a record and gave it to the teacher who put him to his antique record player. Harry realized that he knew that song even if he couldn’t name it… He probably heard it from Dudley’s TV program or maybe an ad… Or it was when Ace would bring her foster sister’s radio around… Anyway, it was definitely muggle music. 

“Big fan of Bowie, aren’t you?” Lupin asked Ace and the girl shrugged. But Harry noticed that small playful smile she tried to hideaway. 

He looked at the professor again. He seemed amused too. Harry decided that, yes, maybe he could trust him. 

“So… Your… the ‘_crazy old witch_’ didn’t do what she did to you because you were a squib?” Harry asked after some time. 

Ace snorted. “I doubted I would have survived her if I couldn’t do magic…” she said.

“Then, do you… do you know the reason why…” he started but realised why his question was stupid. 

“Did your uncle have a reason?” Ace asked back dryly.

Harry didn’t answer. Well, according to what he told Hagrid, Vernon did have a reason… He was trying to beat the magic out of him but there’s no way he says that in front of Lupin. 

“The crazy old witch?” Lupin repeated in the extended silence. 

“That’s…” Harry started to answer but this time Ace clearly glared at him to shut up. 

He was thankfully saved by a knock on the door. Lupin seemed hesitant to answer but when he realized that neither of them was going to answer his previous question, he resigned himself. 

“Come in,” he sighed. 

The door opened, and in came Snape. He was carrying a goblet which was smoking faintly and stopped at the sight of Harry and Ace. 

“Ah, Severus,” Lupin said, smiling. Harry was surprised that the two men were speaking on a first-name basis. “Thank you very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?”

Snape set the smoking goblet down, his eyes wandering between the three occupants of the room. Harry eyed Ace who was clearly annoyed by the presence of her Head of House. 

“I was just showing the kids my Grindylow,” Lupin said pleasantly, pointing at the tank. “And listening to some music, obviously.”

“Fascinating,” Snape said without looking at it. “You should drink that directly, Lupin.”

Oh, so no first name basis on Snape’s part, Harry noted. He should probably ask Draco about it. The way Snape was looking at Lupin reminded him of the way the Potion Professor was looking at him at the beginning of his First Year. 

“Yes, yes, I will,” Lupin said. “Thank you very much, Severus.”

“Not at all,” Snape snorted before backing out of the room, unsmiling and watchful. 

“Is it the same potion than last time?” Ace asked after some time. She seemed disgusted by the look or the smell emanating from the goblet. 

“Hum? Yeah… I’ve been feeling a bit off-colour,” the teacher explained. “This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren’t many wizards who are up to making it.”

Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face. 

“Disgusting,” he said. 

“We should go…” Ace mumbled while getting up, grabbing Harry’s sleeve. 

“What?”

“Professor Lupin should probably get back to work anyway.”

Harry questioned the teacher. A disappointed look was pasted on his face, but he nodded, nonetheless. 

“I guess I’ll see you both at the feast later?”

“Err… I won’t be there,” Harry admitted. “It’s my parents’ death anniversary, you see. And also, the anniversary of Neville’s parents’ _accident_ so we have a private commemoration together with Draco… It’s all sorted out with the elves!” Harry added quickly when he saw the grim look in the man’s face. “You’re welcome to come by the way,” he told Ace. 

The girl shrugged. “I think I’ll pass… Now, we should go because I really don’t want to see him puke!” she hissed while designating Lupin with her chin. 

Harry eyed the professor who did look like he was going to be sick. The empty goblet was still smoking in his hand. “Are you okay Professor? Should we call someone?”

The man shook his head and got up to hold the door for them. 

“Good evening then…” Harry mumbled while getting out. Ace was already walking away quickly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Their counter-Feast went exactly according to plan. 

Draco and Neville came back less than an hour before the actual Feast and Ace dismissed herself as soon as they joined them in the Headquarter. She wouldn’t talk much after what happened in Lupin’s office. Not about anything that matter, at least. She did tell Harry that she was getting bored of the short hair which was at an odd length, and then they had spent most of the rest of the afternoon looking for a charm that could faster the process until Harry remembered that he had learnt how to brew a Hair-raising potion the previous year. They promised each other to try and brew it the very next weekend, after Harry’s first Quidditch match of the season. 

Draco and Neville seemed to have had a wonderful day too. They told Harry about everything they did and remembered, and it almost felt as if Harry had been there with them. The carrot cupcakes were marvellous. They were kept just warm by a spell on the box and it was just the best thing Harry had ever tasted. Draco regrettably told him that he had tried to bring him back Butter Beer too but that Madam Rosemerta, the matron of the Three Broomsticks, wouldn’t allow it. 

It was the fine evening of a fine day altogether, and Harry even told himself that he could get used to this kind of day. That was until, Linkle, Snape’s personal elf, popped in their room as they were finishing gathering their empty plates to bring them back to the kitchen. 

“You must go to the Great Hall immediately!” the elf said. “It is very important and very dangerous! The Castle is attacked. Master Potion Master Snape tells Linkle have to go with Young Master Students to protect them.”

The three friends exchanged a worried look but couldn’t argue with the elf. They didn’t really know what was happening until they entered the Great Hall and saw that the whole school was there looking extremely confused. The tables were completely empty, indicating that the Feast must have already ended some time ago. 

Harry quickly spotted the Twins and Cedric and went directly to them. Cedric, who had seemed very worried a second before, lightened up upon seeing them. 

“Thanks, Merlin, Harry! You’re okay?” he asked, grabbing Harry’s shoulders and scanning him thoroughly.

“Err, yeah? We were just finishing cleaning out our room before heading back. What happened?” he asked. 

The Twins shared a silent look.

“There’s been an attack…”

“On Gryffindor Tower…”

“The Fat Lady had been scattered…”

“By Sirius Black.”

“What?!!” Draco exclaimed but they couldn’t say more as Dumbledore’s voice resonated in the Great Hall. 

“The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle,” he said as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the Hall. “I’m afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the Prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the Hall. I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately,” he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud. “Send word with one of the ghosts.”

Dumbledore paused, about to leave the Hall, and said, “Oh, yes, you’ll be needing…”

One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the Hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of sleeping bags. 

“Professor?” the Head Girl, a Hufflepuff whose name Harry didn’t know. “What about the loo, if anyone should need to…”

The old man seemed extremely confused with that question and Professor McGonagall sighed next to him before flicking her own wand. Two doors appeared on the sidewalls of the Hall. “Left for the boys, right for the girls. Sleep well,” she said before closing the door behind them. 

The Hall immediately began to buzz excitedly as the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened. 

“Everyone into their sleeping bags!” Percy shouted. “Come on now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!”

The buzzing increased as a long line was forming in front of the girls’ bathroom door. 

“Do you think Black’s still in the castle?” Harry heard Hermione’s voice asked. 

“Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be,” Ron answered. 

“It’s very lucky he picked tonight, you know,” Hermione continued. “The one night we weren’t in the Tower…”

“I reckon he’s lost track of time, being on the run. Didn’t realise it was Hallowe’en. Otherwise, he’d have come bursting in here.”

“Or… he noticed Harry wasn’t at the Feast and tried to corner him in the deserted Tower!” Hermione said and Harry shuddered. 

That couldn’t be true, right? He looked at Draco and Neville who were clearly listening too. 

“Don’t worry Harry, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence…” Neville said. 

“Yay, he just tried… and he didn’t even get in anyway. You would have been safe…” Draco said. 

But the three of them knew that if they had just chosen to come back early, Harry and Neville could have come face to face with the man and no one would have been around to save them. 

Everyone was now debating upon how Black could have entered the Castle. Harry looked around and realised that most sleeping bags were now gone. 

“Come on, let’s find somewhere to sleep,” he told his friends. 

He tried his best to ignore the fact that both Cedric’s and Percy’s eyes were on him or that the Twins purposely settled themselves less than two meters away from them. He looked around one last time. 

“Have you seen Ace?”

“She’s probably with the other Slytherin First Years,” Draco yawned. 

There were too many people for Harry to spot them clearly and he decided that Draco was certainly right. The professors wouldn’t have left them so casually if one of them was missing…

“The lights are going out now!” Percy shouted. “I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!”

The candles all went out at once. The only lights now came from the silvery ghosts and the enchanted ceiling, which was scattered with stars. Despite Percy’s orders, the whisperings were still filling the Hall. Harry knew sleep would be hard to come. 

Around one hour after the cut-off, Snape and McGonagall came back in, dragging along a small pair of feet. 

“Seriously, Islington,” Snape was muttering. “What shall we do for you to simply respect your curfew?!”

Harry raised his head and saw that Ace, wearing the hoodie he gave her for her birthday, was following the two adults. She didn’t seem very impressed by the battering she was receiving. Percy went to them and McGonagall explained harshly that they founded the Slytherin 1st year wandering around the Castle Grounds. At some point, Ace’s gaze crossed Harry’s and he nodded at her in acknowledgement. He couldn’t stop a smile when he thought about how much this situation reminded him of the first time they met. A small smile stretched her face back. 

She quickly grabbed the sleeping bag Percy gave her and came straight to Harry. She slipped herself between Neville’s and Harry’s sleeping bag. Harry had to move a little, so she has enough place.

“Where were you?” he whispered. 

She shrugged, putting her backpack into the sleeping bag first. “Walking around. ‘found a stray dog.”

“What?!” Harry chuckled. 

“There is no stray dog in Hogwarts,” Hermione’s voice reprimanded a few meters away. 

“Shut up, Granger,” Draco groaned back. 

Harry looked above his shoulder to see the grumpy face of the Slytherin. He wondered if he had woken him up by moving so he apologized. 

“Where’s the dog now?” Harry asked in a lower voice. 

“Don’t know… the forest, probably… Snape found me on my way there…”

“What were you planning to do in the Forbidden Forest?!”

“Told you, walking. I’m not usually back in the dorm before midnight…” she explained casually. “What happened?”

Harry then proceeded to explain the incident with Black and Ace fell deadly silent. 

“What do they think he is after?” she asked after some time. 

Harry pinched his lips. He had yet to explain to her his relationship with Black. Still, there was no guarantee Black was really after him…

“He is a madman and a mass-murderer,” Hermione’s voice answered once again, and Harry started wondering if she was not the one sleeping behind Draco. “He was probably plotting a terrorist attack against us, Gryffindors…”

“Would you mind your own business, Granger?” Harry snapped. 

“Potter, quiet!” Percy’s voice resonated in the Hall. 

Harry groaned but when he lied down again, he noticed that Ace’s eyes were on him. 

“It made no sense,” she finally said. “If I was plotting a terrorist attack, I would not go to an isolated tower. I would put a distractive act so that all students are gathered and stuck in one place for the night… and then, I would bomb the place! That would maximize the casualties…”

Harry stared at her. She looked back at him deadly serious as if she was now calculating the best way to do such a thing. 

“Thankfully, you’re not planning a terrorist attack…” he said. 

“As far as they know…” she agreed. “I do hate them a lot though…” she added thoughtfully and then Harry clearly heard someone gasping… he hoped it was Hermione. 

Ace was smirking knowingly, and he smirked back. 

She had a strand of hair before her eyes and Harry couldn’t stop himself, trying to put it behind her ear but it fell right back because of its odd length.

“Next week?” she whispered. 

“Promise,” he nodded. He should probably ask Draco to go over the potion with him sometime that week, just to be sure he wouldn’t do any mistake and get Ace permanently bold.

“It’s… kinda feels like old times…” she muttered. Harry raised an eyebrow, so she specified. “Back in Little Whinging. I always come to you at around 11:30, just like now…”

“Really?” Harry asked. 

“Yup. Your uncle’s tv show ends at around 11 and then he finishes his drink and takes something to eat in the fridge. Your aunt always turns out the light 5 minutes before that… I doubt they have much of a sex life…” 

“I admit I never wondered what their sex life was like…” Harry grimaced. 

“Well, they did have Dudley, so it happened once, at least! Anyway, if Dudley needs something from the fridge, he will go down before 11:15… so I usually wait for 11:30 just to be sure,” she explained proudly. 

Harry smiled softly at the way she was speaking about it in the present tense. He had never noticed that Ace always came at the same hour when he was in his cupboard. He didn’t have a watch or the tempus charm back then. 

“You two aren’t planning to sleep, are you?” Draco sighed behind Harry. 

“What? Now? No way! I thought that’s what History of Magic classes were made for anyway…”

Harry chuckled at Ace’s joke and Draco groaned. He came closer to the younger girl and she let him, using his arm as a pillow just list old times. 

“Come on. It’s not even the full moon, is it?” he smiled softly. “At least try.”

She said nothing but her eyes were still smiling. It was really as if nothing had happened and they were back in the Dursley’s garden during one of those warm summer nights… He couldn’t have enough of that apparent thoughtlessness. He wondered where her good mood came from, but he dared to hope it was just because she had had the best afternoon in his company too… If only she could stay like that in the morning. 

They stopped talking and she closed her eyes at some point, quietly humming some random song. Harry closed his eyes too. 

At around three in the morning, Harry was drifting in and out of sleep when Dumbledore came in. Harry sleepily follow him looking around for Percy who was only a short way away from them. He quickly pretended to be asleep as Dumbledore’s footsteps drew nearer. 

“Any sign of him, Professor?” Percy asked in a whisper. 

“No. All well here?”

“Everything’s under control, sir.”

“Good. There’s no point moving them now. I’ve found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You’ll be able to move them back in tomorrow.”

They then talked about the Fat Lady and Harry decided it was maybe not worth listening until Snape joined them to report on the advancement of the search. When he admitted that they couldn’t find any clue of where Black might be, Harry felt Ace’s squeezing his arm slightly. 

He opened an eye to see that his friend was listening while pretending to be asleep too. 

“Very well, Severus. I didn’t really expect Black to linger,” Dumbledore said. 

“Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?” Snape asked. 

“Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next.”

“You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before – ah – the start of term?” Snape whispered and Harry had to focus to hear him. 

“I do, Severus.”

“It seems – almost impossible – that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed-“

“I do remember that conversation, Severus,” Dumbledore cut him more firmly. “And I do not believe a single person that I have appointed knowingly in this school would have helped Black enter the Castle,” said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn’t reply. “Yet, I’m sure if you had discovered any suspicious behaviour in one of the residents of this school, you would already have it reported back to me.” 

Harry felt like some looks were wandering on him… Ace pressed her face against his chest, and he hugged her back as if they were just sleeping.

“I must go down to the Dementors,” Dumbledore finally said. “I said I would inform them when our search was complete.”

Harry waited for the adults to leave the Hall before opening his eyes again. Ace’s good mood seemed to have gone far away. 

“Are you okay?” Harry asked softly. 

She looked up at him. Her silver eyes were shining a mix of anger and distress. She hugged him without a word, and he let her. He just wanted to ask why she was shaking so much… but he couldn’t, could he?

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder and Harry tried his best not to focus too much on them. Ace seemed a bit grim every time someone would mention it near her anyway. The fact that she got detention for being caught outside the Castle after curfew that night probably didn’t help with her mood. 

Harry wanted to talk about that night but every time he crossed Ace in the corridor, she seemed to be followed by McGonagall or Snape or Filch or one of the ghosts and didn’t want to talk. 

The Fat Lady was replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat grey pony. Nobody was very happy about this as the knight spent his time thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day. It quickly became a nightmare.

With the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff coming closer, Harry had other things to worry about anyway. Professor McGonagall had insisted that Madam Hooch should oversee every Quidditch practise for security reasons. 

The weather was dreadful and becoming even worse as the weekend came closer. 

Wood seemed desperate to give Harry bits of advice about how to handle wind and rain and how Cedric, being larger and heavier than Harry, had a competitive advantage over him under those conditions. On Friday, the day before the match, he even managed to get Harry late for his Defence lesson. Harry had a good idea to send Neville ahead to alert their teacher. He still sprinted to the classroom as soon as he managed to get off Wood, and barely stopped by the door before dashing inside. 

“Sorry I’m late, Professor Lupin, I-”

But it wasn’t Professor Lupin who looked up at him from the teacher’s desk. It was Snape. 

“This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we’ll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down.”

Harry stared a second longer before moving to sit next to Neville. He knew from Draco’s lesson two days ago that Lupin had seemed very sick. He hoped there was nothing wrong with him.

“As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin says he is feeling too ill to teach today,” Snape said. “Sadly, your _teacher_ has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far-”

Snape was immediately interrupted by Hermione who quickly listed what they had done during the first two months of school. Snape didn’t seem very impressed and was clearly in a particularly bad mood, so Harry decided to keep a low profile for the next two hours and to just read about werewolves as Snape told them to… 

Not everyone was as conciliant though. Hermione lost them a couple of points and Ron ended up with detention before the end of the class, while Snape kept on commenting on Lupin’s teaching methods. 

Harry was now certain that Lupin was the one person Snape hated more than him… But if that was the case, a question still remained – why did he brew a high-level potion for him last weekend?

When the bell rang, at last, Snape held them back. 

“You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognise and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention. Is that your pet rat? That would be twenty additional points. Pets aren’t allowed in class…”

Harry woke extremely early the next morning and despite his every hope, the weather hadn’t cleared up at all. He stayed in his bed for two long hours before deciding that there were no needs to wake up Neville just yet. 

As he opened the dorm door, something brushed against his leg. He bent down just in time to grab Crookshanks – Hermione’s cat – by the collar and drag him outside. The whole Gryffindor tower had heard Ron’s and Hermione’s argument about how her cat seemed to be perpetually trying to kill Scabbers. Harry wanted no part in that business. 

The noise of the storm was even louder in the common room. Harry decided to get started on Snape’s essay on werewolves to keep his mind off Quidditch and apocalyptic weather, and Crookshanks settled next to him to sleep. 

Neville joined him an hour later and they walked together to the Great Hall. Harry revived a bit over a large bowl of porridge and by the time he’d started on toast, Draco and Ace had joined them at the Gryffindor table. Harry was glad they arrived now and not five minutes later as the Quidditch team would certainly have taken their seats and Harry didn’t want to endure Wood’s nervousness this morning. 

“Harry, do you have the Quidditch goggles I gave you for your birthday?” Draco asked at some point. 

“They are in my trunk… why?”

“I think they’re imperviused. It’s a charm that makes an object repel water and mist. I think it could help…” he explained. 

“Really? That’s brilliant Draco!”

“Don’t mention it. You’re lucky I’m not your opponent today or I would never help you with that!” he smirked. 

“Are you three coming to watch the game?”

Draco and Neville confirmed immediately but Ace seemed hesitant. 

“Ace?”

“Haven’t you notice that it’s raining?? Are you seriously asking me to stay in the rain for what? 90 minutes?”

“Oh, Quidditch matches can last way longer than 90 minutes,” Neville informed her. “It will only stop when Harry catches the Snitch…” he smiled wildly, and Harry grunted under the pressure. 

“Come on, don’t tell me you plan on letting the Snitch to Diggory, Har’!” Draco laughed. 

“Cedric does have an advantage in that weather…”

“Yes, but you’re better,” Neville said confidently. 

“Anyway… I promise I’ll do my best, so it doesn’t last too long,” Harry told Ace. “Will you come?”

She sighed. “You know how lucky you are that I love you, don’t you?”

Harry smirked and let her steal his last toast away. 

As a matter of fact, such was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school turned out to watch the match as usual. Harry decided not to think too much about what they could actually see as, himself, despite Draco’s marvellous gift, had a hard time seeing further that the tip of his broom. 

Within five minutes, he was soaked to his skin and very grateful for the warming charm on his underwear that prevented him from freezing to death. He barely managed to dodge a bludger and tried to focus on the match, but it was hard. The thunder was clapping, and the cheers and boos of the crowd seemed distant. 

It quickly felt like hours. Ace would never agree to come to see him again at this rate. He should ask her if the warming charm on her hoodie was working well. Harry avoided another bludger and ducked beneath Cedric who was streaking in the opposite direction. He turned, intending to head back towards the middle of the pitch to have a better grasp of where the Snitch could be when a flash of lightning illuminated the stands. At that moment, Harry saw something that distracted him completely: the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats. 

_The Grim!!!!_

The memory of Professor Trelawney's shrieking voice resonated in his head. Harry’s numb hands slipped on the broom handle and his Nimbus dropped a few feet. When he squinted back into the stands, the dog had vanished. 

“Harry! Behind you!!!!” Wood yelled from the Gryffindor goalposts.

Harry looked wildly around. Cedric was pelting up the pitch, and a tiny speck of gold was shimmering in the rain-filled air between them…

With a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the broom handle and zoomed towards the Snitch. There was no way he loses the first match Ace ever watched! The hours of training of the last summer dictated his muscles and he brought his broom to the limit of its speed.

“Come on!” he growled at his Nimbus. “Faster!”

But something odd was happening. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. It was as though someone had turned off the sound, as though Harry had gone suddenly deaf. He had never experience that during training and he couldn’t be that faster than then… what was going on?

The cold finally pierced through his underwear and swept over him, inside him, just as he became aware of something moving on the pitch below… But Harry had to catch the Snitch, he couldn’t look down. He needed to catch the Snitch, so Ace doesn’t hate him!!!

“_I thought she was your best friend; you must have seen that she was not okay! I mean, what this man did to her was bad! Really bad, Harry! And you must have known because you told her you understood, didn’t you? _”

No, no, no… he didn’t have time for that. Ace was okay. Ace was here at Hogwarts. What did Mister Smith really do to her??? Should he ask? Would she ever answer??

“_Well, we all know what the life expectancy of a 10-year-old in London streets is… Maybe the cops will find her again one day, but I don’t think she’ll ever be the same if they do…_”

No… she was okay… she was… here… if Harry catches the Snitch she could go back and be warm inside again… She did change but she wasn’t lost, was she? They could go back to the way they were…

Harry’s left hand was whitened on the broom holder as he fought back his tears and reached out with his right arm. 

Someone was screaming…

“Harry!!!!”

Cedric? No… a woman… a voice he didn’t know.

“_Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!_”

“_Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now…_”

“_Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-_”

Harry’s right hand closed on a ball of ice. Numbing, the swirling white mist was filling his brain… what was he doing? He needed to help her… she was going to die… she was going to be murdered… just like Ace… what was the life expectancy of a 10-year-old in London streets again?

“Harry!!!!!!”

“_Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…_”

He was falling, wasn’t he? Falling through the icy mist. 

The lighting flashed green. Ace stared at him with so much disgust in her eyes. 

“_You went on with your life and you just fucking left me there!!! You knew and you fucking left me!!!_”

A shrill voice was laughing, the woman had stopped screaming, Ace was crying, and Harry knew no more.   



	8. Chapter 8

Harry could hear voices whispering around him, but they made no sense whatsoever. He didn’t have a clue about where he was, or how he’d got there, or what he’d been doing before he got there. All he knew was that every inch of his body was aching as though it had been beaten up by Vernon once again… Was that it? Everything had just been a wild dream from his part, and he was still back there?

“Don’t touch me! I’m fucking okay, okay?!!” Someone screamed louder. He knew that voice… “I hate fucking milk chocolate! It makes me sick…”

Ace!

Harry’s eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Cedric, in a similar state, was there too. So were Neville and Draco, and Harry was sure he saw bushy brown hair hiding behind the group of chasers when he turned his head that direction. 

“Harry!” said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. “How’re you feeling?”

It was as though Harry’s memory was on fast forward. The lighting… the Grim… the Snitch… and the Dementors…

“What happened?” he asked as Neville helped him sitting up. On the bed next to his, he saw Ace fighting off a concerned Madam Pomfrey. They both stopped to look at him though. 

“You fell off,” George said. 

“We thought you’d died,” Alicia said while shaking. 

Neville squeezed his shoulder slightly as though he wanted to make sure he was there. 

“Thankfully, Cedric caught you before you hit the ground…” Fred nodded. 

“What about the match?! Are we having a replay?!”

No one said anything. A horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone. 

“That’s all you think about, you fucking idiot?!!!” Ace exploded from the next bed.

“There’s no need for a rematch Harry,” Cedric said more softly. “You caught the Snitch… amongst a thick cloud of Dementors. You almost died doing so but you caught it…” He seemed quite upset by that, but Harry wasn’t sure that was because he lost…

“That’s was stupid…” Draco groaned. “Don’t you dare to do something like that again!”

“It’s the second time you almost die in a match!” Neville squeaked. “Maybe third if we count that time your broom acted strangely back in 1st Year!”

“You’re kidding, right?!!” Ace growled. “You’re telling me that he’s been trying to kill himself like that every other week for the past two years?!!! What fucking wrong with you?!!!”

“It’s… it’s not _always_ like that… and I really wanted to catch the Snitch this time… I mean… We won?”

“_We won_,” Ace repeated while imitating his voice. “You fucking asshole!” she snapped while jumping out of her bed. 

“Miss Islington, I told you I’d like for you to stay here until tonight,” Madam Pomfrey tried to stop her. 

“Well, I don’t care about what you fucking would like. I’m leaving.”

They all watched her leaving silently. Harry sighed… Did that mean that she will be upset with him again? 

“We should probably go…” George said. 

“I need a shower…” Alicia agreed. 

“Do you plan on sharing the Prefect Bathroom with more than one member of our team, Ced?” Fred smirked before getting hit by his brother. 

“Let’s go.”

The team, and Cedric, trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Draco sighed and sat on the nearest chair while Neville borrowed a part of Harry’s bed. 

They stayed strangely silent. 

“I reckon that you didn’t take my last act of bravery very well either?” Harry asked finally. 

“You guess right,” Draco confirmed. 

“We thought you… I mean… sometimes when desperate people are around dementors they lose their mind and just try to…” Neville tried to explain. 

“That was really, really stupid!” Draco cut him. 

But neither of them seemed ready to storm off as Ace did. They just stayed there with him, until Harry asked about his broom and then Harry thought he got the punishment he deserved for worrying his friends that much. 

Fortunately, Ace didn’t stay mad long this time. She came to visit Harry in the middle of the night, and it was probably long after curfew when he woke up to a soft sound in the hospital wing. 

“Ace?” he called in a low tone while putting on his glasses. 

“Hey,” the girl made herself known while appearing out of a shadow. 

“How long have you been here?”

She shrugged and came to sit on his bed. 

“I’m sorry…” Harry muttered. “For scaring you. I just really wanted to win and… I guess I got a bit too bold…”

She nodded but didn’t comment. After long seconds of silence, she sighed. 

“Do you really like it that much?” she asked. “Flying, I mean. Malfoy said you love it… and that you’re the best at it in the school…” 

“Yeah…” Harry smiled softly. “Well, I don’t know about being the best, but I was the youngest Seeker in a century! And I do love flying… It’s like… Being free? I don’t know how to describe it. You tried it, don’t you? First years have a flying lesson in early October usually.”

She nodded. “I have… Don’t understand what the fuss is about… I think it’s… hazardous? I mean… you’re such an easy target when you are in the air. I’d rather stay on the ground.”

“Why would you be a target anyway?” Harry chuckled softly. 

Ace shrugged and looked away. 

“Well, for me it’s freedom. Once you know how to use it, you can dodge about anything! I would have loved to show you on better conditions but… my broom is broken now…” he said while showing her the shattered remnants of his Nimbus 2000. He had opposed Madam Pomfrey when she had tried to throw it away earlier this evening. 

Ace didn’t say anything for a few seconds. She was clearly pondering about something. “It’s okay then,” she eventually said. “You can die while doing something you truly love… but not intentionally while I’m watching next time, okay?!”

Harry laughed softly. “Okay, I promise I’ll try not to die in front of you next time.”

“Thanks.”

Harry smiled softly while looking at her. They didn’t have time to brew the hair growing potion in the end and he hardly saw how they could do it with him in the Hospital Wing. Maybe he could borrow pins from the girls in his class… He was missing seeing his friend’s silvery eyes. 

“Are you feeling better? Why were you on that hospital bed when I woke up?”

The younger girl shrugged. “I… don’t react well to those… _things_ either… They made me think back on stuff I tried to forget…”

“Back to when you were with that crazy old witch? Or M. Smith?”

“Old witch…” she answered. “Can you please don’t mention her here?” she then asked.

“Why? Are you afraid she might find you?”

“No, she’s dead. But…” she shook her head. “I’d rather that she stays that way… I don’t need any of them trying to dig anything up… Can you just… keep it quiet? Please?”

Harry looked at his friend. He wanted to help her and now, he knew that burying whatever hurt you wasn’t a solution. But she didn’t ask for anything very often and he didn’t want to argue with her anymore. 

“Ok, I won’t mention it again…” he sighed. 

She didn’t stay long after that. Something about Snape checking up on her… And Harry was fast asleep again. 

If it was not for those nightmares. 

He knew who that voice belonged to… The one he heard when he was near the dementors and not rehashing his worst memories involving Ace… It was his mother’s on the night she died… when Voldemort murdered her. 

Between that and his broom, he didn’t feel great on the next morning and decided to send an emergency owl to Daisy and have an extraordinary therapy session on Sunday afternoon. He needed to talk it through… and then he would need to find a way to protect himself and his friends from those bloody dementors!

While stuck in the Hospital Wing, Harry also had time to work on his essay on werewolves for Snape but the more he analysed the signs that could allow someone to recognize a werewolf, the more something started bothering him… He decided to stop writing when Neville and Draco came by. Being stuck in the Hospital Wing for two days was a good excuse not to hand back a paper and if Snape said anything, Harry would just have to talk it through with Lupin! 

When Monday came, Harry was discharged and went to class with his friends. Thankfully, Lupin was back and dropped Snape’s assignment. At the end of the class, he asked Harry to stay behind to talk about what happened during the Quidditch match. He seemed relieved when Harry told him that he had definitely not tried to kill himself and that he had seen his mind healer the previous day. 

Harry wondered at some point if he should mention Snape’s assignment but the man seemed like he should still be in bed so he eventually decided not to. Instead, he asked Lupin to teach him how to fight off dementors and the teacher surprisingly accepted to do so after Christmas.

The month of November passed by with Harry being thrilled with the perspective of those lessons. Of course, he no longer had a broom but Cedric lent him one of his old ones for now and he was sure that he could get a new Nimbus 2000 during the holidays – if he managed to convince the Diggorys to make a quick trip to Diagon Alley, of course. 

On the last weekend before the Holidays, the school was buzzing with excitation. It was the second Hogsmeade weekend for the 3rd year and Neville and Draco had left the Great Hall early to get ready to go. Harry and Ace had stayed behind, they were finishing their breakfast at their own pace. 

“There’s no way the school will let you go if you don’t tell them where you’ll stay. They refused to let me go to the Malfoys two years ago because I didn’t have proper authorization from my guardians…” Harry said. 

It had been decided that Harry would go back to the Diggorys for the Holidays. The attack of the Fat Lady had proven that Hogwarts was no safer place than any. He had been invited to the Malfoys’ Yule Gala so he would stay at Draco’s on the 23rd of December. Neville would be there too. Harry’s only worry was Ace…

“As a matter of fact, I am my own _proper guardian_,” Ace answered.

Harry had heard her saying that she was going back to London for the Holidays, but it didn’t sound right. She had nowhere to go back to and it would be freezing out there. Harry had asked the Diggorys if he could invite her at their home and they agreed but Ace refused. As the last days of the semester came closer Harry had lost all hopes. 

“They will never let you go on that excuse,” Harry argued.

“Well, I doubt they’ll be able to stop me.” 

They had brewed the hair growing potion together two weeks before. Her light brown hair was now shoulder-length and she could tie it in a ponytail. 

“Ace, please…” He pleaded, trying to grab her hand but she avoided him. 

“Fuck off, Harry. I’ll do what I bloody want! I owe you nothing!” she snapped. 

It hurt. 

She was getting better. She even joked with Neville and Draco from time to time. But some other times, inexplicably, she would just snap like that. Harry still couldn’t get used to it. 

She was up and leaving the Hall when Harry recovered from that blow. He wanted to yell something at her, but he didn’t know what. 

“At least promise me that you’ll come back here after!” he screamed. 

But she had already left. Some first and second years send him funny looks but Harry didn’t care. Sitting back on the bench, he realized that he was terrified. What if she didn’t come back after the Holidays? 

Harry was on his way back to the Gryffindor tower when the Twins caught him to give him an _early Christmas present_. It was a map showing every detail of Hogwarts castle and grounds. Tiny little dots were moving around, each labelled with a name in minuscule writing. Harry was completely mesmerized, and some strange feeling caught his guts when the Twins listed the names of the creators of this wonder: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. 

The map also showed passages out of Hogwarts which would allow Harry to avoid teachers, Filch and dementors alike. Harry knew it was probably a stupid idea, but he was feeling down right now, and he really needed to spend some time with Draco and Neville. If he took his Invisibility Cloak, no one would know he was there anyway. 

After some arguing with Draco and Neville upon meeting them in Hogsmeade when he was forbidden to leave the Castle and his willingness to trust a magical object that could think for itself, Harry’s day got better. Neville and Draco were eager to show him around Hogsmeade and to make him try the best pastries and hot drinks _of the world_. 

Harry couldn’t sleep that night. His argument with Ace kept running back in his head. They would leave the Castle the very next morning and now he was terrified that his friend would disappear away in the streets of London. 

He sat on his bed, ignoring the low snores of his dormmates, and took the Marauders’ Map out of his trunk. 

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he whispered. 

The old parchment immediately came to life. Contrary to earlier that day, most dots were now concentrated in specific areas of the Castle. Harry had never realized that Hufflepuff dorms were so close to the kitchen. Some teachers and prefects were still patrolling in the corridors. Dumbledore was pacing his study, and Peeves was currently bouncing around the trophy room. 

As Harry’s eyes travelled up and down the familiar corridors, he noticed a dot without a name, slipping out Slytherin’s Common Room. He smirked. Even this magical map didn’t know Ace’s real name then? 

Harry didn’t hesitate long before deciding to get up and put on his warmest clothes. He let a quick note to Neville so his friends wouldn’t freak out if he woke up before he came back. He then grabbed his Invisibility Cloak before leaving the dorm. 

Harry checked on the Map a few times. Ace was heading to the Black Lake. He had to put the map back in his pockets when the winter stabbing cold hit him. Ace was easy to find though. She was walking around the Black Lake, balancing her head upon an unheard rhythm. 

“Ace?” Harry called her but she didn’t notice. He ran through the last meters and grabbed her shoulder. She jolted out of his grip, turned while grabbing his coat and pointed a menacing pocketknife at him. Her striking silver eyes softened a second later upon recognizing him. 

“Har’?” she acknowledged while putting the knife away. She also dropped the headphones that were blocking her ears and stopped the music from the device in her pocket. “What are you doing here? It’s way past curfew…” 

She was smirking. Harry stepped out of his stupor and smirked too. “Look who’s talking…” He then looked at her pocket. “What with that knife?”

She shrugged. “I guess I should favour my wand in this world, but I haven’t made the switch yet…” she explained but Harry didn’t find it to be a very convincing explanation. 

“Wanna walk for a bit?” she offered. 

Harry nodded, dropping that conversation off, and they walked together in companionable silence. 

The night was clear. They could see the stars and the crescent moon. The full moon was probably only a few nights away. 

“Ace? About this morning…” Harry finally said. “I’m sorry if I sounded like I wanted to control you… it’s not the case… it’s just… I’m worried okay? It’s bloody December and we both know that you…”

Harry stopped when he noticed a movement behind Ace’s back. He squinted to decipher the form emerging from the Forbidden Forest and froze. 

A big black dog was trotting their way. He could swear it was the same dog he saw in the Quidditch Pit, just before the dementors’ attack… It was the grim…

Ace noticed that something was wrong and looked back to where he was looking. Unlike him, she didn’t seem put aside by the dog’s appearance though. 

“Hi, Dog,” she greeted the dog which was almost as big as her. The dog barked happily. “Got some turkey and ham for you from tonight diner,” she announced and took out a green napkin from her pocket. Inside was a good amount of meat of all sort which had been served in the Great Hall a few hours earlier.

“Ace… what… what are you doing?” Harry stuttered. 

“What? I told you I found a stray dog back at Halloween? Here he is,” she explained. “Dog meet Harry. Harry, meet Dog.”

The dog looked at Harry curiously. It came at him and sniffed his hand carefully. Its muzzle was cold and wet. It let out a low whine until Harry complied and carefully pet its head. The dog pressed his head against Harry’s palm and barked joyfully before starting to jump around. Harry immediately stepped back. He had bad memories associated with hyperactive dogs – thank you very much, Aunt Marge…

“Come on, Dog. Leave Harry alone now and come eat,” Ace called it, but the dog didn’t seem ready to listen until she called it more firmly. “Dog!”

The dog immediately stopped harassing Harry and look back at her pleadingly. 

“I said, leave Harry alone. Can’t you see he’s not very fun of you?”

The dog looked back at Harry with pleading eyes. 

“Sorry…” he felt compelled to say. “It’s not you! I just don’t like dogs in general! Aren’t you hungry?” he then asked, pointing to the food Ace had brought. The dog barked at him before turning around to ravish the food. Harry felt suddenly very stupid to have talked to the dog as if it could understand him… That was usually Ace’s speciality! 

“I can’t believe you called it ‘_Dog_’”, he snorted. “Are you even sure it is a dog? It definitely looks like…”

Harry stopped there. Ace would probably think he is mad if he continued. 

“Looks like what?” Ace asked.

“… a Grim…” Harry sighed. 

“What’s a _grim_?”

“It’s an omen of death, which is reputed to bring about the demise of the person who encounters it…” Harry explained. “Trelawney, my Divination Professor, freaked out after seeing it in my teacup back during our first class in September…”

Ace looked at him sceptically.

“Harry… You know, it’s not because you just discover that magic is real that you have to believe every bullshit everyone says around here…” She then shook her head disapprovingly as if he was a lost cause. 

“Shut up,” Harry smiled playfully. “Have you been taking care of it since Halloween?”

“Well, they definitely serve too much food there… I can’t stand to waste it,” she shrugged. “But most of the time, he just steals away from the Giant’s stock.” 

It took Harry a few seconds to understand she was talking about Hagrid.

“You might be right about him not being a dog though… he definitely doesn’t smell like a normal dog… Yet, barely anything smells like it should be around here. Right, Dog?”

The dog barked and Ace smiled softly before sitting down next to it and patting its head. 

Harry sighed. “’_Dog_’ is really a stupid name…”

“What do you suggest I call him?”

“ ’don’t know…” Harry looked at the dog and a name came to his mind. “Padfoot?”

The dog’s head jolted up and stared intensively at him. It has grey eyes that seemed a bit cloudy compared to Ace’s light silver ones. Harry felt strangely uncomfortable under that stare. 

“Padfoot?” Ace repeated. “It’s not even a dog’s name! I mean, most animals could be called ‘pad foot’… like cats for example… Where does that come from?”

“I don’t know…” Harry mumbled while looking away from the sill staring mutt. “I read it somewhere recently and I immediately associated it with a dog name…” Harry sighed while sitting next to her. “It’s just felt right… somehow. What about… Oscar? Rufus?”

Ace grimaced. “Err… doesn’t look like him. He’s not that noble…”

The dog made some disapproving whine at that before deciding on resuming his feast. 

Harry then remembered how cold and wet the dog’s snout had been a few minutes earlier. “Snuffle?”

“Or Grim? Since you think he looks like that…” she smirked. “What do you think, Grim? Are you going to kill Harry?”

The dog raised his head and bent it slightly as if it wasn’t understanding what she was talking about – which was probably the case as it was a dog…

“It’s not funny. Call it whatever you like…” Harry pouted. 

She laughed at his moody face, and he didn’t mind. At least, she didn’t seem angry with him because of their argument of that morning. 

The dog had resumed eating and Ace was now looking absentmindedly at the frozen lake. At some point, a very big, bandy-legged, ginger-coloured cat joined them.

“Crookshanks?!” Harry exclaimed. “What are you doing here?! You’re not allowed out of the Common Room!”

The cat ignored him and came rubbing his head against Ace’s leg. “Hey, you! Hungry too?” she asked before getting out a second green napkin full of leftover meat.

“How much meat are you stealing at dinner?”

“It’s not stealing… it’s waste reducing,” Ace corrected him. “You know Cat then?”

Harry sighed at her lack of originality. “His name’s Crookshanks. He’s one of my classmate’s cat. If you feed him enough, he might stop trying to kill one of my other classmate’s rat…”

The dog barked loudly and groaned, frightening Harry. 

“Yeah, I doubt anything could stop Cat to chase a rat too…” Ace nodded pensively while stroking the giant dog’s head. 

Crookshanks didn’t even seem bothered by the presence of the canine next to him. That cat might be the feline twin of Ron with the way he was eating… 

“What are you going to do with that dog during the Holidays?” Harry asked, forcing himself to relax despite the presence of the dog next to him. 

“I don’t know… I thought I might ask Lupin to look after him if he stays here…”

Harry eyed at the moon critically. He had tested his theory at the end of November and, so long, it seemed to fit. 

“He looked ill again… I reckon he’ll probably visit StMungo’s or something…” he muttered. “But you can maybe ask Hagrid, the Giant?” Ace made a face at that prospect. “He liked me alright. I can ask for you if you want?”

She nodded absentmindedly. Crookshanks had finished eating and rolled himself against her legs. She smiled softly while stroking his head. On her other side, the dog lipped her cheek softly before resting his head on her legs too. 

“Har’?” she said after long minutes of silence. “About our discussion from earlier… I’m sorry… I’m not used to people worrying about me anymore and…” she sighed without looking at him. “You don’t have to worry; I know how to take care of myself… and there are some things I need to do back there…”

“But you’ll come back, right? And you will be safe? Warm?”

“Your hoodie will keep me warm,” she said while showing him that she was wearing it right now. “As for the safe part, I’m quite good at not being found.” She smiled mischievously. “Look.”

She rolled up her left sleeve and Harry saw some symbols on her forearm. She then took out the pocketknife from earlier and Harry gasped when she put it against her skin to carve a new line. Harry wanted to stop her but found himself suddenly unable to focus on the girl. He could see the dog that was whining softly and Crookshanks that got up and sniffing nervously around. But he couldn’t force his brain to focus on the space between them. It was as if there was always something distracting around. He knew he should focus. She was probably still there. He should talk to her, stop her, but the shadow of the giant squib could be seen under the ice and that lonely cloud really had a peculiar form...

“_Episkey_,” the wind mumbled next to him and then he could see her again. 

The girl was smirking. Her wand had replaced the knife in her right hand. Harry immediately grabbed her left arm. The symbols were not mere drawings, they were scars… She had done that to herself!

“What have you done?!!” he exclaimed. “Doesn’t it hurt?! Why are you doing something like that???!!!”

“It’s nothing,” she answered defensively while releasing her arm and rolling down her sleeve. “Just a distracting rune… Lupin taught me the healing charm anyway…”

“Did he show that to you?! Does he know that you’re scarifying yourself?!!”

The dog whined lowly and put his head back on Ace’s lap, licking her hand. Crookshanks went back to sleeping against her too. 

“I’m not… It’s not… I don’t…” she started but was clearly thinking her actions over now. “I used that rune before I came here, okay? It doesn’t hurt that much and it’s… convenient. I need it for work anyway…”

“What work?!!”

Ace looked at him probably thinking she had said too much already. However, Harry wouldn’t let go this time. This was too big. 

“What work, Ace?!!!”

“I… I _transport_ bags around the City for some people… It’s… they often use kids… We are less likely to be monitored or to be in any real trouble if the police catch us… I’ve never got caught, though, mind you.”

Harry could feel the cold shiver running down his spine.

“What’s inside the bags?”

“Don’t know… never asked, never checked. It’s easier that way and it’s good money anyway…”

“Ace…”

“I’m okay, okay?! I need the money and it’s better than… other things! And like I said, I’ve never got caught! It was going well… I even thought about raising my price a bit as I can no longer be considered a newbie…”

Harry snorted. He didn’t believe a word she was saying. She was clearly involved in some illegal trafficking and this kind of things never ended well in Dudley’s movies. She was definitely not safe, and she wouldn’t even admit it! 

“If it was so ideal, why did you come here? Why didn’t you keep making a name out there?” 

He was so angry with her. How could she be so reckless?!! Couldn’t she see how dangerous this was??? She stayed guiltily silent for long seconds. 

“Something changed, right? Did you piss out the wrong people? Someone noticed you?!! You weren’t safe anymore!”

“Not because of that! There was just a fucking mass murderer on the run! And I got that freaking owl letter, so I just grabbed the opportunity to leave London behind for a bit… Funny thing is, that bloody mass murderer follows me here next…”

She was stroking the dog’s head nervously and refused to meet at Harry’s eyes. Harry hadn’t noticed how terrified the perspective of that psychopath running wild could be to his friend. They hadn’t talked about it after what happened at Halloween. She had been afraid back then too…

“Ace… I think you should know something about Black…” Harry said, trying to ignore the way Ace had shuddered upon hearing that name. The dog was looking at him intensively too. “He… They all think that he’s probably out after me…”

Ace was frowning when she turned her head to face him. “Why would he?”

“He… He’s my godfather… He was my parents’ friend but betrayed them to Voldemort – that’s the name of the psychopath that murdered them. Now, they all think he escaped to finish the job and kill me off too…”

Harry was unable to decipher the feelings shining in her silver’s eyes. Ace seemed abashed by that explanation. But the dog stretched its neck to push Harry’s knee with its enormous head and he tentatively patted it. 

“He… he was your parents’ friend?” Ace repeated. 

“Yes… and he’s still potentially my rightful guardian, apparently. They couldn’t find the trial transcript from 1981 so it messed up with my custody trial last year when they took me out of the Dursleys’… They were trying to do a retrial when he escaped this summer…”

“Harry… that’s… It doesn’t make any sense!” Ace protested. “He can’t… he can’t be your guardian!!!”

“Oh, trust me, I know! But… well, it’s how it is. Sorry, there’s so much I need to tell you and I don’t always know where to start…”

The dog whined again, and Ace resumed stroking his head. She focused back on the Black Lake. It looked like she wouldn’t add anything on that matter. Harry hoped she would have questions; it would be so much easier for him to know what he should tell her or what she already knew…

After sometimes, she started humming a song unknown to Harry and he smiled softly. 

“You’ve always loved to sing, don’t you?” he said fondly to lighten the air. “Are you still listening to music in Lupin’s office?”

She shrugged. 

“Do you like him? As a Professor, I mean…”

She looked at him. “He’s okay… He teaches me stuff…” she said. “Useful stuff…”

“Do… do you trust him then?”

She shrugged and looked away again. “He’s poor and probably can’t afford to lose this job… I doubt he would do anything that could jeopardize that…”

Harry nodded. That reasoning seemed coherent and he could guess that Ace was actually trusting the man more than she would admit. 

“Won’t you sing something for me?” he asked with a sheepish smile.

“What?!”

“Please? I missed your voice,” he admitted.

She looked at him and sighed. “Any song in particular?”

“I don’t know… anything? What about that song Dudley sang to you at our last school fest? _’Hey June’_?”

She stared at him as if he had said something really really stupid. 

“You mean, ‘Hey Jude’, right? From the Beatles?”

“I don’t know… Didn’t know the original… It was just a nice song though… When it wasn’t Dudley’s turn to sing.”

“Harry… It’s the Beatles!!!” she insisted. “What kind of English man are you?!”

Harry pulled his tongue at her. “Will you sing it?”

She sighed and shook her head. A few minutes later, she looked afar, and the melodic words started flowing out of her lips. 

“Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it better…”

Harry smiled softly and hugged her sideways as she continued to sing to the Scottish night. It wasn’t until he was back in his dorm one hour later that he realized how strange it was that the dog had howled in rhythm for the ‘na na na’ part at the end of the song… This song must really be famous if even the Grim knew it. 

The next day, the Hogwarts Express had been moving for about 5 minutes when Susan Bones and her friends came and asked Neville to help them with a herbology emergency – apparently, a first-year Hufflepuff had stolen away a baby mandrake to show it to his muggle friends and now they didn’t know how to stop it from crying. 

Then, Pansy Parkinson came and asked Draco so many questions about the Malfoy Yule Gala, it made Harry nervous. She insisted that Draco should go with her to check on different dress robe she could wear… Draco refused, at first, but the girl didn’t take no for an answer. In the end, Draco left too, and Harry stayed alone in their compartment. 

He sighed, pondering if he should just start his homework assignments now or read a book… He didn’t have anything left to read if not his schoolbooks… He should probably ask Cedric if there was any good light reading, he would recommend. 

Something changed in the room and Harry frowned. 

Suddenly, Ace materialized blurry on the seat next to the window and Harry jumped off. 

“Ace!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here???”

“Going back to London…” the girl said. “I thought we had been through that conversation yesterday already…”

Harry blinked a few times; she was really there… How did she avoid McGonagall’s strict check?!!

“You used that bloody rune again, didn’t you?” he sighed. 

The girl raised an eyebrow as if she didn’t understand what he was upset about. 

“Ace… you should stop that… it’s not… Doesn’t it hurt?”

She shrugged. “Not that much. It’s okay…”

“Yet, it’s not healthy! You shouldn’t do that!” Harry argued. “You know… the family I live with, the mother is a mindhealer – it’s like a therapist. I told you they agreed that you could come to stay with me during the holidays. Maybe you could talk to her and…”

“I’m not crazy…” Ace hissed defensively. 

And from the way she was now frowning, Harry knew that it was useless to try to convince her. 

“Neither am I,” he sighed. “But it really helps, you know? But ok, I won’t force you.”

She nodded and started looking at the window. Harry stared at her; his mind was running. He didn’t know what to tell to try and convince her again. It was probably useless… But at least he could make sure that she was safe.

He grabbed his bag. 

“Here,” he said. “This is an Invisibility Cloak; it should probably work as good as your rune…”

He put it on, to show her how it worked and gave it to her. 

“You have to give it back though,” he said carefully. “It was my father’s… I expect it back for the ride back on January the 9th.”

She seemed hesitant and he hated that. She was thinking about not going back, wasn’t she? 

“You’ll come back, won’t you?” he insisted. “You won’t abandon me ever again…”

“I’ve never abandoned you…” she mumbled. 

“Well, I’ll never accept to lose you again so make sure to be back at Kings Cross on the 9th! Here, some money too. Don’t starve yourself.”

“I don’t want your money, Har’…”

“I don’t care, and I wasn’t asking. You take it.” 

He tried to keep a confident voice, but it wasn’t so easy. However, a soft smile eventually appeared in his best friend’s face and before he knew it, he found himself in a tight hug he hadn’t experienced in years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!  
Are you still holding on this story? Please tell me what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

“Mother? Does Lord Nott have another child, beside Theodore?” Draco asked while levitating a long garland that the elves had troubles keeping in place. 

As always during this time of the year, the Malfoy household was very busy. Their traditional Yule Ball was set for that very evening and, even if it was currently only 1 pm, everything was already buzzing around. 

Narcissa Malfoy was coordinating the whole thing. Making sure everything was in order and right on schedule. 

“Why do you ask, my dragon?” 

“Theodore mentioned a sister the other day…” Draco elaborated while trying to stay casual. 

It was actually something that had been on his mind for quite some time already. Since Harry and Ace had made up, back in October, he had tried to bond with the girl when he happened to see her in Slytherin Common Room. The thing was, the girl was hardly ever there and on the rare occasions when she was, she seemed to always sit next to Theodore Nott who wasn’t a great fan of small talk or noise in general. He sure didn’t seem bothered by the girl’s presence thought. Draco even caught them talking a few times which was an abnormality for Nott. So, a few weeks back, he had gathered some bravery and asked the boy about it. 

She was reminding him of his sister. 

That answer was unsettling since as far as Draco knew, Nott didn’t have a sister. And Draco was pretty well versed in Wizarding Families of Great Britain! Yet, the look on Nott’s face had prevented him from asking more on the matter. 

Draco looked up to his mother who had yet to answer. The woman seemed as bothered as he was by his question. 

“I’m surprised he remembered… I thought Lord Nott had tried to keep that issue buried away. I guess there was no point in keeping it from his heir though…”

“So, Lord Nott does have a second child? How come I’ve never heard about it? How old is she?”

“She was born just as the war was ending… and you never heard about her because the girl died when she was just a toddler. Maybe a couple of years after her mother… You were still very young at the time too… no more than 6 or 7.”

Draco stared at his mother. He internally thanked Merlin for preventing him from pushing Nott directly on that matter. Wizarding children were sacred, their death a rarity… 

“What happened?”

His mother sighed. “I don’t know for sure… Dragon Pox, possibly? It was a very private affair. Lord Nott has barely ever taken his children out for social gatherings after his wife died. Our world was still recovering from the last war and the girl had yet to be presented to the world…”

At that point, an elf appeared to tell Narcissa that the Wizarding Chef from the catering agency was waiting for her in the floo room. She left after reminding her son to get ready and that his new robe should have been brought to his room by now. 

Draco was still thinking about the Nott family while bathing a few hours later. The girl’s age seemed to fit… What if Nott’s sister didn’t die? But Nott would have recognized her… And why would Lord Nott let his daughter run away to the muggle world? He would probably have looked for her if she had disappeared… And that didn’t explain what Ace had been through… But Nott could describe what the Cruciatus Curse felt like very accurately… Draco shivered at the mere remembrance of it. 

Could Lord Nott put his own children under such a curse? Aren’t wizarding children supposed to be sacred? Yet, his father very much admitted that the Black family had used it on a 12-year-old… He wondered who it was and when it happened… Probably more than a century ago! And there were so many disowned members on that family tree that it was hardly surprising… Were the Notts similar on that matter? Were they still using this kind of inhuman and archaic punishment?

Draco shivered again. If anything, Nott said was true, he hoped he would never be put under this spell… He knew his father had… But that was during the war. The curse was illegal now, so it was probably safe…

But even if he put some more thoughts in it, Ace looked nothing like Nott… Her traits were undoubtfully typical of the Blacks. And the Notts hadn’t wed in the Black Family for generations… Neither were the Selwyns, the family of Nott’s mother if Draco remembered correctly. Harry had told them that Ace had never doubted about her abilities to do magic even before she met Harry… She hadn’t been beaten up because she was a late bloomer who was suspected to be a squib – which was the most common motive on child abuse in the Wizarding World… What if Lady Nott had cheated on her husband and that he discovered it when his wife’s child looked nothing like him? That certainly wouldn’t have been a first… Then she wouldn’t be part of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Nott. Could Lord Nott have cursed a mere toddler if she wasn’t from his House?

Draco didn’t know that much about Lord Nott. Even Draco’s father was cautious around him. The man was old. Draco knew that he went to school with his grandfather. He had married and had children late. Lady Nott died years ago, and she was younger than Draco’s mother. When Draco was younger, Theodore Nott was the one child his father had specifically asked him not to mess around. Did he know what was going on behind closed doors? Did Draco know? It was just suppositions … But with everything that had happened to Harry and Ace, Draco hardly believed that children were always safe in the parents’ house anymore…

Draco was still deep in his thoughts when he went back to his room after bathing. He didn’t react immediately when his eyes travelled the room and didn’t even stop on the 13-year-old wearing pitch-black expensive robes with a green undershirt that exacerbated the emerald shine of his eyes. It wasn’t until he realized that the door of his dresser was blocked by a travelling case labelled ‘HP’ or that a white owl was quietly sleeping on his window edge that his brain fully registered what was going on. 

“Harry?!!!!” he exclaimed. 

His friend was smirking. “Finally! I was beginning to think that I had put my Invisibility Cloak on and forgot to take it off…” 

“What are you doing here?!! What time is it? _Tempus_!” It was only 4 pm, there was still plenty of time before the Ball. “Why do you have Hedwig and your bag with you?”

Harry laughed softly before letting himself crash onto Draco’s bed. 

“There has been a change of plan. Cedric’s grandmother is sick and the Diggorys need to go and see her. They offered that I stay with you and your parents until Boxing Day or the day after. Your parents agreed, didn’t they tell you?”

Draco sneered. “They might have omitted it, indeed…”

He tried not to look too much at Harry’s bright smile. It was quite unfair to attack him unprepared like that. He should have a word with his parents…

“Are you planning to go to the party naked?” Harry asked casually. “I know I was overdressed! I told Daisy but she insisted that it was okay…”

And suddenly, Draco realised that he was only wearing a towel. He groaned and rolled his eyes. 

Draco sighed. “Give me 5 minutes…”

He grabbed a few underclothes and his new dressing robe and went back to the bathroom. He let out a sigh once he was alone. He couldn’t let himself go. Harry didn’t know and – clearly – wasn’t bothered by seeing him half-naked. Thus, he doubted he would ever reciprocate his feelings. Really, it shouldn’t bother him so much! It was stupid. Couldn’t he just be happy to have his best friend over for the next few days???

When he went back to his room, Harry was playing with Hedwig. He turned his head upon hearing the door opening. 

“I thought you had drowned yourself,” he smirked softly but Draco could see that something was bothering him. “Draco… listen… if you don’t want me around, your mother offered that I sleep in one of the guest rooms… I don’t mind, really. I’m sorry for not telling you that I was coming earlier. I didn’t know until yesterday, really! Could you just lend me something to change into? I don’t know what you’re supposed to wear in this kind of event, and I don’t want to embarrass you…”

Draco blinked. He was still not used to hear his friend expressing his feelings. He knew Harry had worked on that since the last summer, but it always surprised him to realise how much the boy was overthinking his and Neville’s every reaction. 

“You can stay here, I don’t mind,” Draco sighed while sitting on the bed next to Harry. “It would be just like last summer, it was fun. I’m sorry, I was… thinking about something else and I’m sorry if you didn’t feel welcomed Har’. I’m happy you’re here! And you’re not overdressed, you’re perfect… we could probably do something with your hair though…”

“We can’t do anything with my hair, Drake… it’s a lost cause…” Harry sighed, and Draco noticed the tension leaving him. 

“Don’t say that! It’s a challenge now! I have to try!”

He grabbed Harry’s arm and dragged him to the dressing table. 

“Let try some Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on you! It should work, it’s your grandfather that invented it after all! I reckon your hair problem runs in the family!” Draco said lively. He couldn’t let Harry notice his feelings. Harry was his best friend and he didn’t want to ruin their friendship. 

“My grandfather invented that?!!” Harry exclaimed. 

“Yup, Fleamont Potter,” Draco said, giving the bottle to Harry after taking a few drops into his palm. “Here, I think most of your family’s fortune comes from the royalties…”

Two drops were definitely not enough to tame the dark mass but after half an hour of battling against it, Draco finally noticed some improvements. When he started working on Harry’s front bang, his friend took off his glasses and closed his eyes. Draco tried to stay focused. It was hard. He could feel Harry’s warm breath against his forearm, and it made him feel warm too… a bit too warm, maybe. His eyes kept falling on Harry’s lips. He couldn’t. 

He put the last strand of hair behind Harry’s ear and took a step back to admire his work. Harry opened his eyes. They looked so much lighter without those horrible glasses to hide behind. 

“How is it? Did you manage to do something with it?” Harry asked. “Will you give me my glasses back so I can look too?”

“They are hideous, they’ll spoil the whole look. You don’t need them…” Draco mused he couldn’t take his eyes away. 

“Don’t be silly, I can’t see without them!”

“What about magical contacts? Or you can go to StMungo’s and get a view correcting potion… It’s a bit expensive but…”

“I doubt I can get that before tonight party,” Harry chuckled, and his lips drove Draco’s stare from his eyes. “Come on, give them back!” 

Harry reached out with his hand but Draco stretched his arm so he couldn’t seize his glasses. Draco realised how close to each other they were when Harry’s breath brushed his cheek. He grabbed him just as Harry was losing balance and they almost fell on the floor when a loud cough surprised them both. 

“Am I interrupting something?” Neville smirked from Draco’s bedroom door. 

“Nev’!” Harry exclaimed using Draco’s loss of focus to finally grab his bloody glasses. “When did you arrive? Can you stay tonight too??”

“Yup…” Neville answered. He was looking at Draco while Harry turned his back to them to check his new hairstyle in the mirror. 

Draco refused to acknowledge his friend’s unspoken question. He had been careless. 

“It’s awesome! How did you manage that Drake?!!!” Harry was saying. “I’ve never… I think I’ve never seen my hair looking like that!!!”

“It’s pretty awesome indeed,” Neville joined him. “How long did it take?”

“An hour… more or less,” Draco said after casting a quick tempus to make sure of the time. “It hadn’t been an easy job and I think it would be impossible to get that result on a daily basis…”

The boys kept on commenting Harry’s hair for the next half hour until an elf popped in and announced them that the first guests were arriving, so they were expected downstairs.

For two nights in a row, Draco had the strangest dreams involving Harry’s hair and the immediate need to use the bathroom as soon as he woke up. Thankfully, Harry usually woke up early and was already down for breakfast or working on his homework in the library by then. 

“Come on, wake up, it’s Christmas~” was the whisper that woke him up that morning. 

Draco tried to tell him to back off but only an indecipherable mumble left his lips. He didn’t want to get off the warmth of his bed. The pressure on his cover was so comforting. It smelt like mint. Mint went well with shining emerald eyes and silky black hair… 

“Draco~” 

“Hmph… Sleep…”

“If you don’t wake up now, I’ll kiss you~”

Draco thought that he wouldn’t mind… before realizing that he wasn’t the Harry in his dream that had just said that sentence. 

“What?!!!!” he exclaimed jolting up. 

Harry burst in laughter on Draco’s cover. He had already showered and brushed his teeth. His hair was still slightly wet, but one could notice the effort put to tame them. 

Draco groaned and hid his head under his pillow. 

“Argh… Har’… what time is it?!!”

“8. Come on, your parents are waiting downstairs! There’re presents!!!”

“Of course, there’re presents… It’s Christmas, asshole…” Draco sighed. Harry had told them how he was still surprised when presents were waiting for him on Christmas or his birthday even after three years. Yet, Draco couldn’t get used to seeing his friend acting like a 4-year-old… “Give me 5 minutes…”

“Ok! 5 minutes! Not one more!!” Harry smiled brightly before turning around as Hedwig came knocking at the window, holding a parcel with her beak.

Draco used the distraction to slip out of his bed to the bathroom. He was getting sick of his body. Of course, he knew that it was just puberty and that there was nothing to be ashamed of. But the mediwizards that had given him that talk back when he was only 10 had said nothing about the dreams being about one’s best friend and said best friend sharing a room with you when that happened!! 

When Draco got out of the bathroom, Harry was still sitting on his bed. He seemed to have lost some of his overflowing energy though. 

“Is everything alright? Who is it from?” Draco asked. Harry was holding the package Hedwig had been carrying a few minutes earlier. 

“It’s from me…” Harry mumbled. “It… it was supposed to be for Ace, but Hedwig hadn’t found her, apparently…”

Draco could almost physically feel Harry’s worries building up. Why did that girl always put him in that state?! 

“Come on… It’s probably nothing! You know how hard she’s to find anyway! She was maybe just momentarily unreachable. You should try to send Hedwig again during the day. I’m sure she’s okay.”

“You don’t know that…”

“No, I don’t,” Draco admitted. “But I know that she’s a Hogwarts student now. So, if she was dead – and she’s not - Hogwarts would know. Come, we can write a quick note to Snape before going down for breakfast!”

Draco grabbed his friend’s sleeve and dragged him to his father study where Helios, his emergency owl was waiting patiently. Draco wrote the note and sent the owl to Hogwarts. 

“Come on,” he then said enthusiastically to Harry. “You said there were presents!”

His energy managed to steal a small smile from his friend as they ran downstairs. 

“Good morning Mother, Father. Merry Christmas!” Draco said lively as soon as he entered the small dining room. 

“Good morning to you too, my dragon.”

“Care to explain why I just felt Helios leaving the wards?” Lucius asked while seeping into his cup of tea. 

“We needed to ask Uncle Sev’ something,” Draco said while sitting at the table. 

“Hedwig was supposed to deliver a present to Ace but didn’t find her…” Harry answered the Malfoys’ unspoken question.

Draco looked at him, Harry was eying the pile of present on the adjoining sitting room. 

“Come on, Harry. Where are your manners? Breakfast first, then presents…” Draco said while pretending to serve a cup of tea to him. 

He watched his friend as an amused smile brightened his face. It would have been difficult to pour less tea on the cup. Draco served himself the same amount of tea and finished it in one sip. Harry did the same. 

“Done!” they exclaimed at the same time. 

Narcissa chuckled slightly. 

“Go then, boys…” she smiled softly, waiting for her husband to follow them. 

Draco hadn’t been that excited about Christmas for years. Harry’s presence must have something to do with it. He quickly spotted the package he was looking for. 

“Here, Har’! You should start with this one. It’s from Neville and me… and your Quidditch team, and Diggory… and some other Gryffindors too, I guess. There should be a card… Yup, here!”

Harry took the small box carefully and read the letter quietly. 

“You’re kidding right?” he then asked while looking up. “Draco… it’s… it’s too much! I can’t accept it!” 

“Oh, you will accept it! And it’s not that much… Each of us had put 1 or 2 galleons… well I put in 10 and Neville 6 and my parents added another 20 but this should be around 60 galleons in total to buy you a new broom! I enclosed this ad about the Comet 280-S which is specially designed for Seekers, but if you want to extend your budget a little you can also try the Thunderbolt II which just came out. It’s the fastest broom of its price range!”

“Calm down my dragon,” Narcissa chuckled slightly. “Why do you mean Harry can choose? I thought you had sent one of the elves buy his broom with that money already...”

“What? No! It’s Harry’s broom. I couldn’t choose for him!”

“Then what is this?” Lucius asked while designating a long and thin package lying underneath a pile of others. 

Harry grabbed it. His name was on it. He ripped the parcel open and gasped. Draco looked over his shoulder and gasped too at the magnificent and gleaming broomstick. 

“Is that…”

“… a Firebolt?!!”

“Draco Lucius Malfoy!!! Have you used my name to purchase overly expensive items again?!!” Lucius growled. 

“What?!! No! It’s not from me!! I swear! It’s… That costs at least 2,000 galleons! Even I know it’s too expensive!!!”

“Then, who sent it?!”

Harry ripped the remaining of the wrapping but could find nothing. The name on the package was written on the same character font as the firebolt’s tag. 

“Tipsy!” Lucius called and the elf popped in. “Who sent that parcel?” he asked designating the broomstick. 

“Tipsy don’t know, Master. The parcel was sent by an owl from the International Post directly from the store, Master.”

“Lucius, you don’t think that…” Narcissa started. 

“There’s no basic curse or compulsion charm on it, otherwise our wards would have noticed it.” 

“Maybe we should bring it to an expert to be sure. I was planning on going to Diagon this afternoon anyway.” Narcissa said and Lucius nodded. “Harry, dear, would you mind putting that aside for now.”

“Father, Mother, we can’t give this back… it’s… it’s a firebolt!!!” Draco stuttered. 

“We can see that. Yet, nobody will ride this broom until we’re sure it’s safe.”

“But…”

“There are no buts! Your mother is right, Draco. Now, Tipsy, take this broomstick.”

“Don’t take it away! Can’t it just stay here for now? We won’t use it just… I’ve never seen a Firebolt from this close!!!” Draco whined and Harry sniggered. “What?”

“You’re cute,” Harry smiled at him and Draco felt his cheek reddened immediately. 

“I’m not! And… well, now I hope that this broom is really cursed because there’s no way you use that during the House Cup!! It’s totally unfair!”

“Come on, Draco. The broom doesn’t make the seeker… I could beat you even on a Comet 220.”

“Fuck you!”

“Draco, language,” his mother corrected him. The two adults were hovering around the broom, trying every detection spell they knew. 

Draco and Harry resumed the opening of the other presents, but both their heads were unavoidably turning back to the side of the room where the broomstick was lying. Draco hoped that it wasn’t cursed because he could give a kidney just to have a chance to try it…

Later that day, Hedwig came flying around them while they were having a snowball fight in the garden. She was carrying a small piece of paper and gave it to Harry. 

Draco read it over Harry’s shoulder. 

‘_Thanks for the albums. I love them. Merry Christmas. See you in January. ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ _’

Severus was sulking. He couldn’t believe that Dumbledore kept giving him stupid orders as if he was a house-elf. It had already been bad enough to share a table with that lunatic Trelawney earlier…

He knocked at the door and didn’t wait for the resident to answer before getting in. Even after 4 months of residency, the apartment was still only scarcely decorated. A few books, some chipped cups and a misshapen kettle, nothing to battle the cutting cold that permanently resided in the Castle in the middle of winter… The only real furniture was an old wooden table and two chairs which Severus knew to belong to Hogwarts and not the resident of this teacher’s quarter.

After a few minutes of waiting, the wooden door leading to the bedroom opened and Lupin trailed off to the living room.

“Merry Christmas, Severus…” he said, probably trying to be jovial. 

Severus had no need or time to pretend.

“Dumbledore wanted me to check on you… As you missed lunch and dinner… I can now assure him that, unfortunately, you’re still alive. It seems to be my only purpose today… checking that nobody died,” he snarled.

The werewolf shrugged. The full moon was still hanging over him.

“The potion didn’t work?” Severus inquired.

“It works just fine,” Lupin sighed. “And you know it since you ask me that very same question every month! Don’t pretend to doubt your talent, Severus. I just hate winter… it’s always so cold in here…”

“Can’t you ask an elf to make you some tea or something?” Severus snarled.

Lupin smirked. “If I’d the choice, I’d rather go for something stronger… But I can make you some tea if you want… Let me just…”

“Linkle?” Severus called and the elf popped in. “Bring me the firewhisky bottle on the second shelf to the right.” 

The elf popped out and in again a few seconds later.

“Here Master Potion Master Snape. Is Master Potion Master Snape in need of anything else?”

“No, you can go.”

“Yes, Master Potion Master Snape.”

The elf disappeared again. The wolf was staring at him, but Severus refused to care. He was sick of all this inaction from Dumbledore’s part. 

“Surely you have your own glasses? My day had been longer than yours…”

Lupin grabbed a couple of glasses and sat at the table with him.

“Thank you,” he mumbled when Severus poured him a generous amount of firewhisky. “Whose death you’ve had to invalidate? Other than mine, I mean,” he then asked.

“Islington…” Severus sighed. “Not only the girl sneaked out of Hogwarts for the Holidays without any sort of authorisation but I have to be the one to make sure her name is still on the register when Potter’s owl is too stupid to find the girl on time…”

“Hedwig didn’t find her?! Severus, this owl is very clever, and I saw Harry introducing her to June a few weeks ago. If she didn’t find her…” the wolf panicked immediately.

“The owl found her just fine later today,” Severus snarled. “The girl must have been hiding again and I don’t know how she does it but she’s visibly very good at it.”

To be honest, Severus did worry when Lucius’s emergency owl had wakened him up that morning. But the girl’s _fake_ name was still on the list of current Slytherin students. He didn’t know where she was or how she managed to jump on the train to London the week before, but at least, she wasn’t dead yet… And that part was confirmed a few hours later when Draco had written him to tell him that Potter’s owl had eventually found his recipient.

Severus wasn’t stupid and immediately noticed that Lupin was repressing a mocking smile. It was okay, he wanted him relaxed anyway…

“Black seemed to have left Scotland and to be back in London…” he said slowly, eyeing the wolf to analyse his reaction.

“Has he been seen again?”

“Not really. But there has been a new arrival of Black family heirlooms in Knockturn Alley this week. Narcissa Malfoy, Black’s cousin, went there this afternoon to check. It’s theirs…” 

The wolf didn’t seem surprised or cautious. He probably didn’t know about it then…

“Has it been any housebreaking in their family estates lately?” he asked.

“Those houses are so heavily warded that I doubt anyone sane would try it. But it wouldn’t be a break-in if they had been entered by the new Lord-to-be…”

“But he has been disowned when he was 16!” Remus exclaimed.

So, the wolf didn’t have this specific piece of information. However, there was another piece of mystery to elaborate…

“On other news, Potter had received a two-thousand-galleon-worth broomstick from an anonymous donator this morning… You wouldn’t know anything about that?” Severus said while seeping his firewhisky.

This time Remus smirked. “How could I possibly spend two thousand galleons on a broomstick? This is the best firewhisky I’ve drunk in years and trust me, I noticed it’s a cheap one… Believe me, I love Harry and I would gladly cover him in presents but that’s way above my current salary…”

“I had guessed so… Do you think Black could have done it?”

Or to be more accurate, how did Black know that Potter needed a new broom? Who told him?

“With what money?! You just said that he was selling away family heirlooms. He must be broke.”

Interestingly, the wolf wasn’t surprised that Black knew about Potter’s Quidditch accident… 

“Yes and no,” Severus said. “You see, Gringotts never received his trial transcript in 1981. So, if he decides to go there, he would be granted full access to his former vaults and all Black family and affiliated vaults…”

“You’re kidding, right?” Remus coughed on his firewhisky.

Severus decided not to answer. If Lupin was in contact with Black, he wouldn’t be able to keep that piece of information to himself. Then, they could catch Black when he would go to Diagon Alley.

“You’re saying that if he tries to go to Gringotts he would discover that he has unlimited funds to cover his runaway?!!!”

“Basically, yes.”

The wolf was gobsmacked. The Gryffindors had always been so easy to read…

“Why are you telling me all this? Weren’t you thinking that I was helping him?” Lupin asked.

Oh? So, not so blind after all. 

“I thought you might, indeed,” he admitted. “I know what kind of relationship you used to have with that man… It’s not easy to turn your back to this kind of feelings…”

Lupin shivered at the accusation. “Those feelings are long gone. Sirius betrayed me in all ways possible and killed all my best friends. I hate him.”

“Yes, I can see that now…”

No, he couldn’t. And he wasn’t even sure Black did betray the wolf…

“Severus… Lily is dead. And James … and Peter … and Franck and Alice are lost forever. I found his notes you know? About that fake lead, muggleborns splinched to death and pregnant woman found dead in Knockturn… He left it all in our apartment. He probably didn’t think that I’d be back before him. He was also working on spying devices and on… legends about wolf cubs. I don’t know what he was planning with me, but I was probably his next target.”

The wolf looked like he was going to be sick. 

Lupin was good at acting. Severus could give him that. But it was nothing new… The teachers had always believing him to be a calming and reasoning force in their stupid group of troublemakers when Severus knew the truth. Back then, Lupin had been the brain behind most of their plans…

“That lead he gave to the Longbottoms… it wasn’t fake,” Severus said evenly.

“What?!”

“The Dark Lord wanted to experiment on untrained magical cores… Purebloods weren’t ready to let him experiment on their own children yet… well, not all of them. Muggleborns under 11 were the next best thing…”

Lupin stared at him. Severus could see his brain working. Didn’t he know the true colour of the war?

“Did Dumbledore…”

“…know?” Severus finished his sentence for him. “Well, I knew, and Lily was my friend, I would have done everything to save her. He must have decided that nameless muggleborns were a lesser loss…”

The look of utter despair on the wolf’s face deserved a better firewhisky…

“Why are you telling me all that?”

“Because Dumbledore is far from being as selfless as you seem to think. And as far as I despise you all, loyalty isn’t something that you ever seemed to lack…”

“Are you implying that Sirius is not guilty?”

No, he was implying that Lupin was as guilty as Black would ever be. If anyone had asked him, there would have been two people in Azkaban for 12 years… not one.

“You’re the one who knows him.”

“I didn’t know him. I thought I did…” Lupin sighed. “He… Something happened to him that year. He’d disappeared for almost two months in February. He wasn’t the same after that… he told us he was with his family not Death Eaters but… James always argued that his family was a bunch of Death Eaters…” His glass was empty, and Severus wasn’t sure serving him another one would serve his objectives. “He had always been like that… cracking up and screwing everyone lives on a whim… Just like he did back in 6th year when he bragged to you about how to get to… me…”

Severus coughed uncomfortably at that, which wasn’t like him. As much as he despised defending that stupid mutt, he wouldn’t say that he _willingly_ gave him that piece of information back then… Severus had been learning legitimancy and none of his Slytherin _friends_ wanted him to practice on them… People without basic occlumency training were no challenge… So, he went to the next best thing… Black had been hard to crack… but seeing his dear little brother under the Cruciatus had just made the trick. Oh, it wasn’t really Regulus Black. Severus had never been suicidal. They had given some Polyjuice to a Hufflepuff mudblood… Avery’s idea… Good old times… Did Black hide those facts to his friends? Why? Was it pride? 

“Just before he died, Peter had written me that James and Sirius had been fighting more and more… They never fought before the war…” Lupin continued. “He changed after Hogwarts… You heard Hagrid the other day in the staff room. Sirius was rumbling muggle hating nonsense when he went to get Harry from him. He’s insane… Like the rest of his family.”

“If you said so… I need to go now.”

He was sick of listening to the wolf whining. He got up and his robes swirled around him like they always did. He opened the door and a small shadow caught his attention.

“_Stupefy_,” he whispered before kneeling and displaying an old crippled grey rat by its tail. “Is that Weasley’s rat?”

“What?”

He turned to show his prize to the werewolf. The alcohol must have been too much because the man had blanched considerably. He didn’t want to stay here if the wolf was going to be sick. 

“I imagine you won’t let me discard one of your precious Gryffindors’ pet?” Severus sighed before letting the rat on the counter and living the place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAAAAAAATTT??????????!!!!   
XD
> 
> So what do you think? Any prognosis - is that really the right word? Really?? -?  
I


	10. Chapter 10

Draco had spent really good holidays. Harry had stayed with them for the first 10 days and after two days of quarantine when they couldn’t even look at it, the Firebolt had been deemed safe by the experts his parents had commissioned. 

Of course, Harry let him try it too and it had been… magical! 

Draco was so envious of his friend, but he knew there was no way he convinced his parents to buy him the same broom. It was far too expensive and way above what they could agree on. This was a professional broomstick used in international competition… Maybe Draco could convince them if he told them that it would be his only birthday and Christmas present for the next 3 years… but was he really ready to renounce to other gifts for three years? That was the question…

During those ten days, Draco had seen Harry getting occasionally anxious when Hedwig failed to find Ace for the umpteenth time. The fact that he couldn’t contact his childhood friend and make sure she was okay all the time was clearly oppressing him. Draco hated seeing his best friend looking so helpless… He talked about it to Neville and together, they might have found a solution. Ace would have to agree to it though…

Now, it was time to go back to Hogwarts and the three friends met at Kings Cross. Neville arrived first, with his grandmother. The woman was so proud of Neville’s grades improvement since he changed his wand that she gifted him his very own greenhouse for Christmas. The boy had been ecstatic when he had told his friends and, consecutively, Draco and Harry had barely seen him during the holidays.

“… it had customizable weather in different areas so I can grow tropical species too!!” he was explaining to Draco when Harry joined them followed by the Diggorys and the Weasleys.

“Is he on it again?” Harry asked Draco mischievously while looking at Neville with worried eyes. 

“Yup.” 

“Oh, come on! I can brag a little on my greenhouse! You two just spent two weeks doing so on a broomstick!” Neville pouted. 

“I can’t let you say that Nev’…” Harry sighed. 

“It’s not a simple broomstick…” Draco agreed.

“It’s a Firebolt!!!” they finished in sync. 

Neville groaned and the three of them laughed it out. 

“Careful, brother mine…” Draco heard one of the Weasley twins saying. 

“It seems like competition is coming…” the other continued. 

“How dare they use twin talk when they are not twins at all…?”

“They must be soulmates…”

“Or completely mad…”

Draco pretended to ignore that comment and to focus on what his friends were talking about. The younger Weasley son was clearly sulking while glaring at Harry. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Draco whispered to Harry. 

Harry eyed Weasley and shrugged. 

“We didn’t tell him about the Firebolt before this morning when it was too late to let him try it on…”

“You won’t let him touch it, will you?!!” Draco asked, horrified. 

“Of course, not! It’s not as if he was my friend anymore!” he said a little louder. 

Draco smirked. Weasley clearly heard it and his brothers too but didn’t seem to care or to defend him or anything. That was great.

“Boo,” someone said just next to them into Harry’s ear and all of them jolted up. 

They felt a bit of air and suddenly, Ace appeared, holding Harry’s Invisibility Cloak in her hands and her traditional backpack on her back. 

“Merlin, Ace! You scared me!” Harry complained. 

The girl was smirking. Clearly, proud of herself. Some ugly and massive ginger cat came around and started purring around her legs. 

“Hey, you,” she said, stroking its head lightly. “What are you doing here?” 

“It’s my cat! Leave him alone!! Harry?!! Isn’t that your father’s invisibility cloak?!!” Granger’s voice squeaked behind them. 

“It is!” Weasley answered trying to grab the fabric. Thankfully, Ace avoided him easily and the cat hissed aggressively. “Hermione! Take that murdering monster away before it kills someone else’s pet again! Harry, it’s a family heirloom! You shouldn’t let anyone else use it!! You, give it back!”

Harry looked at them critically. “Even though I fail to see why any of this is your business… I do whatever I want with my belongings and, as a matter of fact, she is family. So, fuck off.” He sighed. “Come on, we need to find a compartment before everything is taken!” he said to his friends, grabbing the younger girl by her shoulders and almost pushing her to the train. 

Draco followed with a sour taste in his mouth. On one hand, he agreed with Weasley – which was already making him sick – on the fact that Harry shouldn’t lend his family heirloom to anyone. And on the other hand, Harry was so confident in saying that the girl was _family_… Of course, he knew that she meant a lot for him, but still… Was it family as sister or wife?

He caught the two friends talking ahead of him. 

“Family, really?” Ace was joking. “Does that mean that you won’t ever try to fuck me? I mean, family don’t fuck each other, do they? Well, at least, usually, they don’t… they’re not supposed to anyway… but things happen… in families… what kind of family are we? Tell me, Har’???”

“Shut up, you idiot…” Harry groaned. 

But Draco noticed the slight blush on his cheeks and the way the girl kept on smirking while watching him. It was difficult to keep in mind that she was just a first year… she wasn’t supposed to talk about this kind of stuff… Draco was definitely not in that kind of state of mind when he was a first year!! Well… sure, he liked to hug Harry and occasionally wanted to kiss him but… this was a large step!

Draco noticed that the girl was wearing some kind of chain necklace around her neck. He wondered if Harry had gotten her some jewellery for Christmas… The girl didn’t seem like the kind to like jewellery though… but Draco barely knew her, unlike Harry… The chain seemed too thick to have been made for a young girl. It was more like some of the necklaces his own father was wearing from time to time… Maybe it was another family heirloom that Harry had passed down to her…

Their discussion had turned to what the girl had been up to during the holidays and Ace dodged most of Harry’s questions. 

“It was okay! Don’t worry! I love Blur, by the way! And Queen is always a classic! But Radiohead is just glorious!! Thanks again for the gift! I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything though… You don’t seem like you need anything so…”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay…” Harry said. “I didn’t give you money so you can get me a gift anyway… And I don’t really know those bands, I just trust the seller in the store. So, how many meals have you missed?”

Draco thought that was a very strange question to ask… When did Harry give that girl money anyway? Was she mooching on him? Did he mind at all?

They had found a compartment at that point and Neville elbowed Draco slightly. Draco sighed and then cleared his throat. 

“Actually, the three of us, Neville, Ace and I, had worked on one last gift for you, Harry… Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get it ready by Christmas… We were hoping to give it to you now.”

“Really?!” Harry asked doubtfully looking at the girl who was slightly frowning while looking at Draco. 

“Yeah…” he said, taking out a small box from his pocket. “Ace… I would need one drop of your blood…”

“What are you gonna do with my blood?!!” the girl squeaked.

“It’s to complete our gift,” Neville explained. “This is a pair of heart-easer bracelets. With a drop of blood from each of you, they’ll be connected to each other and let you know that the other is safe and sound even when you don’t know where they are or how to contact them. My grandmother used to make me wear one when I was younger because I kept getting lost and she was worried after what happened to my parents…”

“We thought it could be useful as the two of you seem to think about the worst every time, you’re unable to find the other…” Draco added. 

The girl stared at the two chain-bracelets for long seconds before looking at Harry. 

“You worried again? I told you that I could take care of myself…”

“Hedwig had a hard time finding you! She had never done that with anyone else…” Harry said defensively, and Draco started doubting that their gift would be well received. “You didn’t use that…rune again, did you??”

“No! That’s why you gave me your Cloak, remember?! I just… maybe she can’t go where I stay… it’s kind of… well-hidden? Other street kids never managed to get there either…”

“Is that a magical location?” Draco couldn’t stop himself from asking. Magical wards were the only thing that could prevent owls to go somewhere. 

Ace stared at him but didn’t answer. 

“Anyway… you shouldn’t have worried. Don’t tell me you wrote so many letters just to make sure that I was still alive??? Are you trying to kill Hedwig?!!”

“I didn’t!!!”

But the girl wasn’t listening to him. She kneeled next to Hedwig’s cage and took some biscuits from her pocket. 

“Poor little girl… Your master is soooo stupid… what are you going to do?”

“Hey!!!” Harry protested when his owl accepted the treat and thus condone the insult. 

Neville started laughing softly next to him and Draco couldn’t stop a smirk to appear on his lips. Harry stared at them as if they had just committed the worst betrayal in history. 

“Can you certify that the blood I’ll put on that stuff couldn’t be used for anything else?” Ace asked when they calmed down. 

“It could be used to find you, but only by the person who put the second drop of blood,” Neville said. 

“And, as far as I know Harry, I doubt he would let that piece of jewellery off his wrist even for Quidditch or shower anyway,” Draco said.

The girl considered the idea a few more seconds before finally agreeing. 

“Ok then… But only so Hedwig doesn’t die of exhaustion next summer.”

The rest of the ride went smoothly. Ace had a few more questions about the bracelet and they ended up studying the runic circles that were craved on them. The girl seemed quite advance in Ancient Runes despite being only a first year, and thus, supposedly, never having been studying them. 

As Harry had his book with him, they also went over their assignments. She read Harry’s Ancient Runes exercises a few times and started taking notes on a muggle notebook. Draco had seen her work with that kind of supplies a few times before in the Common Room. Most of his Housemates were horrified when she did… but he tried his best to understand. He had found some information on her strange glass quill that worked without ink on his Muggle Studies notebook. 

When they were waiting for an empty carriage at Hogsmeade station, the three 3rd year noticed how the girl was looking at the space before the ones, already full, that were leaving in direction of the Castle. 

“You can see them too, right?” Neville asked softly. 

“What?”

“Those wing-horses’ creatures…”

“Yeah, why?” she asked. 

“They are called thestrals,” Draco said. “They can only be seen by people who had witnessed death. Neither Harry nor me can see them…”

The girl eyed Harry and shrugged. Harry didn’t question her about whose death she had witnessed so Draco assumed that he already knew. He didn’t really like when the two of them communicated silently without even speaking. It made him feel left out… He then noticed Neville’s eyes on him and hmphed. 

They didn’t expect Professor McGonagall to be waiting for them at the Castle’s door. 

“Mister Potter,” she said. “Miss Granger has just informed me that you have been sent a broomstick from an anonymous source during the winter vacation. May I see it?”

They looked at Granger who was standing behind their Transfiguration Professor. She seemed worried but Draco could be misreading her expression. He still hated her deeply after all. Why would she say something like that to their professor and how did she know?!

Sadly, Harry couldn’t deny his Head of House’s request and took the broom out of his travelling bag. 

“Hmm. Is that true that there was no note at all, Potter? No card? No message of any kind?”

“No…” Harry answered, glaring at his former friend. 

“I see…” Professor McGonagall said. “Well, I’m afraid I will have to take this, Potter.”

“W-What?!! Why?”

“It will need to be checked for jinxes. Of course, I’m no expert, but I daresay Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick will strip it down-”

“Strip it down?” Draco repeated. “Professor, with all due respect, it’s unnecessary! My parents already had experts looking at it and found nothing! It’s safe!”

The stern professor stared at him. 

“_With all due respect_, your parents’ words mean nothing, Malfoy,” Weasley spat. He was watching with other Gryffindors 3rd year a few meters away from them. “It’s already bad enough that they are trying to have poor Buckbeak murdered… we won’t let them kill our best seeker too…”

“They can ask for written certifications from third parties!” Draco said, trying his best to ignore him. “You can ask Professor Snape, I’m sure he could get them for you! I swear! Harry is my best friend; I would never let him ride anything that could endanger him!!”

The professor stayed silent for long seconds that felt like hours and, eventually, sighed. 

“Fine, I’ll check this out with Professor Snape. I’ll keep this with me until I received said certifications, Potter. Hurry to the Great Hall, dinner is about to be served. Islington, it will be one month of detention for leaving the Castle without authorization. Professor Snape will give you more information tomorrow morning before your first class.”

Neither of them had time to protest. The Transfiguration Professor was already leaving the Entrance Hall, bringing Harry’s new flamboyant broomstick with her. 

“What did you go running to McGonagall for?!!!” Harry almost yelled at Granger. 

“I… I thought – and Professor McGonagall agrees with me – that that broom was probably sent to you by Sirius Black! It’s too dangerous! It could have broken your neck the first time you ride it and…”

“I’ve already ridden it and so did my friends! It’s perfectly fine!! Why don’t you just mind your own business for a change, Hermione?!! How many times should I tell you?? I’m not your friend anymore!” he stormed off and Neville quickly went after him. 

Draco was ready to do the same, but something kept him back. Ace wasn’t following them. He looked back and the girl was holding Granger against the wall. 

“If anything happens to that broom for no reason, I’ll make you pay.” She mumbled. “And as far as you know, anyone could have given it to him! I could have given it to him!” she said angrily. 

Draco frowned. Why didn’t anyone around them was reacting? The other students were just moving around, avoiding them as if nothing was happening. 

“N-no, it can’t be! You-you’re an orphan a-and you’re broke! Harry told us that you have been a runaway, you couldn’t have a-afford it…” Granger stuttered back. “Get off me! You’re hurting me…”

She was taller than Ace, yet the way the younger girl was holding her made it impossible for her to get free. 

“You don’t bloody know that! You don’t even fucking know who I am! I don’t care that I’m hurting you, you clearly have been hurting Harry for longer. And if you hurt him again, you’ll be sorry…”

Ace let the Gryffindor girl go with one last push. She stopped as she walked to Draco’s level. 

“Is it true? Did your parents really make sure that it’s safe?” she whispered. 

It was disturbing to have her stare at him so intensively. The fact that she had the exact same eyes as Black in those bloody pictures wasn’t helping. 

“Ye-yeah,” Draco answered. “It’s safe. I’ll ask them to send the certification as soon as possible…”

She nodded and ripped a small piece of paper that she was holding in her hand. Suddenly, the world around them became louder. Draco blinked. Did she really just dissolve an intimacy bubble?! When did she even put it up?!!

“Hurry,” she said softly. “Harry is going to worry.”

She left. Draco shivered suddenly hoping that he would never get on that girl’s bad side… She was scary. 

Harry was so mad at Hermione. It was as if she had learnt nothing from the previous year. She was always on his back, always commenting on his choices, on his friends, and now on the gifts he was receiving! What did she know? They weren’t even remotely friends anymore! And yes. He knew that she and Ron had had a backlash regarding their respective pets… The whole school knew! Well, at least, all the Gryffindors… 

Harry was a bit sorry about Scabbers. He was a good rat, but Ron had always been complaining about how old and useless he was! Surely, the poor rat would have died soon with or without Crookshanks’s help… 

Harry was dreadfully eating his breakfast on Monday, trying his best not to curse everyone around him. Of course, Hermione had meant well, but it was none of her business! And if he didn’t get his broom back quickly – or if anything happened to it – he didn’t know what he would do. 

During morning delivery, Draco gently elbowed him, and Harry immediately understood why. Mister Malfoy’s large eagle-like owl was flying with the rest of owl bringing back every item that students had forgotten home after the Holidays. The majestic bird landed next to Professor McGonagall. 

She slowly put her fork and knife down and wiped her mouth. 

The tension was unbearable for Harry. He grabbed Draco’s arm. He knew his friend was as eager as he was to know the reaction of their Transfiguration professor. The woman seemed to know they were watching as she was taking an excruciating amount of time to open the envelope and read the papers.

She made a small sign and Professor Flitwick joined her. The small professor promptly agreed to whatever she was asking. She then took a few more minutes to read the documents again and sighed. 

Eventually, she turned her head and her stern eyes crossed Harry’s. With one move of her hand, Harry jumped to his feet and quickly walked to her. 

“You are in luck, Mister Potter. The Malfoys indeed did everything in their power to make sure that there was nothing wrong with your unexpected Christmas present. It would have taken us weeks maybe months to get to this depth of analysis… You’ve got a very good friend somewhere, Potter.”

“I can have it back?” Harry said weakly. “Seriously?”

“Come by my office before lunch,” the Professor said, giving him the pile of documents that the Malfoys had provided. “Now, there is nothing between us and the House Cup, I must hope!”

Harry thanked her enthusiastically and she gave him one of her very rare smiles. Harry almost ran back to his friends. 

“What did she say????” Draco asked impatiently. 

“It’s safe! I can get it back before lunch!!!!” he said and went to hug his friend firmly. “Thank you, Drake! If it wasn’t for your parents, it could have taken weeks before I get it back! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!”

“Err… My pleasure, Har’…” Draco mumbled. “You should probably thank whoever gave you this broomstick more than me though.”

“I will! Whenever I discover who it is!” Harry said brightly, finally letting his friend go. He might have squeeze Draco a bit too much because his face was a lovely shade of pink now. 

“We need to go or we’re going to be late to Care…” Neville reminded them. 

Harry, Neville and Draco quickly went back to their working habits - between lessons, homework, Quidditch training and time spent together in their Headquarter. Harry found out that Ace was willing to spend a bit more time there too. He caught her trying some tunes on Draco’s piano once. 

It was Defence Against the Dark Arts that Harry was keen to get to. Professor Lupin had promised he would teach him how to fight back Dementors and he couldn’t wait to get started. 

At the end of their first class of 1994, Harry stayed behind. Neville had been willing to stay with him but Lily Moon, one of their classmates from Gryffindor had asked to talk to him for a minute. 

Professor Lupin seemed sicker than usual. Harry didn’t ask. The man clearly had a lot on his mind because he didn’t even notice him immediately. They agreed to meet on Thursday evening after diner and once again, Harry couldn’t wait. 

“He’s still ill,” he said to Neville who was waiting for him just outside the classroom. “I guess my assumptions were right then… Where do you think he is staying during those nights? Anyway, I’ll have to leave you alone on Thursday evening from now on.”

“Hum?” Neville asked not listening to whatever he was saying. 

Harry smirked. “Will you survive up in the Lions’ den alone without me?”

“What? Oh… Hi, Harry…” Neville mumbled. 

“Ok, you’re scaring me. What did Lily want to talk about?”

Neville blushed profusely. “She… she asked me out…”

“What?!!!” Harry exclaimed. And now he couldn’t wait to meet Draco at lunch so they could be two to make fun of their common friend’s newly discovered love life. 

Lily Moon was a nice girl. Harry didn’t know her well, but she was friend with Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones from Hufflepuff and Harry knew that Neville had been spending some time with them when Harry and Draco were busy with Quidditch or Ancient Runes study. She was fine but a bit shy. Nonetheless, Harry doubted she wanted them to stay around them all the time when she was seeing Neville. 

Anti-dementors lessons included another boggart. Professor Lupin got the idea after Harry had told him that his boggart was probably a dementor. Those beasts made him relive all the worst memories of his past and right now, his past scared him way more than any perspective of the future. At least, now he knew that Ace was alive and safe and as alright as she can be! 

The Patronus charm was difficult and Harry barely managed to produce anything. He was using everything he knew on occlumency to force himself to think about good memories even when the dementor was in front of him. But it was still hard. 

On his last attempt of the day, he nearly passed out. When he opened his eyes again, Professor Lupin was giving him a chocolate frog. He didn’t know why he trusted that man that much, but Harry decided to confide in him about hearing his parents dying. 

That’s how he learned that Lupin had been friend with his father. His reaction was genuine. Nothing like how Lockhart had acted the previous year. 

“Harry?” Lupin asked after telling him how close he had been to his mother and father. “I recently came across some pieces of information regarding your custody trial… would you mind telling me a bit about it?”

He had made hot chocolate and just gave a large cup to him, so Harry didn’t think about denying him. 

“There’s nothing much to talk about… My living situation with my Aunt’s family wasn’t great and… well, my friends wouldn’t let it stand and asked their parents to do something…”

“I am with the impression that June would have liked to do something about it too?”

Harry hid his face on his mug. He didn’t want to talk about Ace behind her back but there were certainly some elements teachers already knew about her. 

“She did… but nobody believed her. Nobody ever believed me before I came here either…”

“Do you know why?”

Harry looked at the man critically. He didn’t know if he really didn’t know or if he knew and wanted him to tell it aloud. 

“Compulsion charms… Dumbledore put them on me… they were supposed to keep me hidden, unnoticeable…” he mumbled, looking away. 

He was still so angry with Dumbledore. Daisy had told him that it was ok and even healthy to feel that way, but it still made him feel strange. As if those feelings were out of place. 

He sighed. “They had been taken away by the goblins last year. Before that, nobody had ever believed me… Except for Ace… but I don’t know why. Then I came to Hogwarts and Neville and Draco weren’t affected because they were wearing their Heir Rings… And the Weasleys Twins because they always took compulsion-nullifying potions when they experiment. And Percy, because the Twins always tested their experiments on him, and he took precautions now… Do you know that he created a compulsion-nullifying amulet for his OWLs project on Ancient Runes and Arithmancy? It’s pretty impressive!”

“It is indeed,” Lupin agreed. “If it can make you more comfortable, my… medical condition… made me almost immune against compulsion charms too. So, you don’t have to worry. Do you trust me?”

Harry decided not to answer that. He had come a long way since the previous year and somehow, he felt like he could trust that man… But on the other hand, old habits were hard to lose. Even if the man had been very nice to Ace, his friend would certainly yell at him for talking so easily…

“Professor, if you were friend with my father, you must have known Sirius Black as well.”

The man froze. “What gives you that idea?” he said sharply. 

“Nothing. I mean, I just knew they were friends at Hogwarts too…”

Lupin’s face relaxed a bit. 

“Yes, I knew him,” he said shortly. “Or I thought I did…”

“Do you think he really did it?” Harry asked. 

“What?”

“Betraying my parents? Escaping to kill me? I don’t know… It just doesn’t make sense… He’s my godfather and legal guardian. If he wanted to kill me, he just had to stay out of Azkaban back in 1981 and then he could have killed me anytime.”

“These are very dark thoughts to have for such a young boy, Harry…” Lupin sighed. 

“I know. I talked about it with Daisy Diggory, she’s my mind-healer… And I don’t wish he had, mind you. But… There is so much that doesn’t add up. For example, the people he listed in his will that could take care of me if something happened to him.”

“Who are they?”

“Neville’s parents, Alice and Frank Longbottom… He is said to have betrayed them too. His cousin, Andromeda Tonk. She’s Draco’s aunt, he told me that she was disowned because she married a muggleborn and was fighting for the Light side… And the Greengrasses – Daphnee Greengrass’s – from Slytherin – parents. They were neutrals, I guess, from what Draco told me… None of them was remotely inclined to give me up to the Dark Lord!”

Lupin stayed quiet for a very long time after that. “I’m not sure I knew him that well, but he wasn’t always in the right mind… Not all the time at least… And he had been through a lot… Maybe… Maybe he didn’t mean to and it was just a whim… I heard he had a fight with your father a few days before… I’m sorry I can’t give you answers Harry. You’d better get off, now. It’s getting late and I don’t want you to get caught after curfew because of me.”

Remus Lupin went back to his apartments with too many thoughts for his brain to endure. He could already feel the headache building up. 

He crashed on his bed, groaning loudly. 

Harry’s words were running in circle in his mind. 

Alice Travers had been their 5th year Gryffindor Prefect back when they were just 1st years. She was the one to always accompany him to the Hospital Wing until his 3rd year at Hogwarts. She married Frank Longbottom who was the Headboy at the time and also helped out Remus a fair amount of times back when he had no one to share the full moons with.

Andromeda Tonks was Sirius’s cousin, of course. But she was also the first person to trust him enough to give him a job. It was just babysitting during the holidays, but it was enough to get him some pocket money that he had put aside for the time his parents would no longer support him. 

Olivia Greengrass, finally, had been a teaching assistant to Professor Slughorn for a few years. She had been Remus’s private tutor as potion had never been his cup of tea and she was notably on the team of researchers that created the Wolfsbane Potion three years ago. 

Something twitched angrily in the corner of Remus’s bedroom and he refused to open his eyes again when the rat transformed back into a man, trapped by invisible magical walls. 

“Did you talk to him? Did you talk to Harry?? Do you believe me now???”

Remus sighed. 

“I don’t know, Peter…” he sighed. 

The only thing he knew was that all the people that Sirius had listed to take care of Harry if something ever happened to James, Lily and him were people who knew what Remus was and had accepted him as such… They were all people that would have let him stay in Harry’s life despite his condition. 


	11. Chapter 11

That afternoon, Harry was quietly drawing in their headquarter. His mind was at ease. The bracelet his friends had given him was working. It was currently softly warming up his wrist, indicating that Ace was okay. 

He hadn’t expected his best friend to slither in a quarter before 5 nor that the girl would hesitate after seeing him. Was she disappointed? Had she expected to be on her own?

However, after a second on indecisiveness, Ace closed the door behind her and sat on the ground next to him. 

“Hey,” she said. 

“Hey,” Harry said back, trying not to show how uncomfortable she had just made him feel. 

“What are you doing?”

Harry showed her his drawing and she nodded approvingly. 

“Where are your friends?” she asked. 

Harry wanted to tell her that they were her friends too, but he didn’t want the girl to deny it, so he kept quiet. “Muggle Studies, I have a free period.”

She nodded and sighed before resting her head against Harry’s shoulder. 

Harry relaxed immediately. Maybe she wasn’t disappointed to see him earlier. Maybe she just feared that Draco and Neville would also be there… It was a bit sad and Harry wished Ace would be more comfortable around his other friends too... But he guessed he would prefer that to her trying to avoid him… 

“Long day?” he asked while resuming his drawing. 

“Yeah… I don’t know what’s wrong with that girl…”

“Which girl?”

“The one who told McGonagall to take away your broomstick… I was in the library, reading a book on runes and she came and claimed that 1st-years are not supposed to study runes… She made a scene and I got kick out…”

Harry breathed slowly, trying not to get angry again. Hermione really had issues with minding her own business. 

“Hermione Granger. I’ll talk to her…” he said.

“You don’t have to.”

Ace stayed against his shoulders for a few more minutes before straightening up. 

“That’s right! You’re studying Ancient Runes! Maybe you can help me!”

“With what?”

She took a notebook out of her bag and showed him a complex rune formula. 

“I transcribed the runes on our bracelets, and I think that, if we just add this one here, I could change it so we can reinforce the link between both bracelets. As the main circle focused on warmth, I think that changing that rune,” she underlined a rune on the paper, “to this one,” she scribbled a new slightly different one next to it, “both bracelets could share warmth… Then if you’re cold or have a fever, I could feel it too!”

Harry looked at the paper. It was way above anything he had seen in class. So far, they had just learnt the Elder Futhark and Gaelic alphabet and they were trying to translate some easy sentences… They’d never even try to compose their own formula… Professor Babbling had told them that this part of their discipline was only cover in NEWT level classes. He didn’t know if what Ace was trying was even possible… But it gave him ideas… 

“Do you mind if we show this to Professor Babbling? She would probably be of more use than me.”

Ace made a disappointed face, but Harry would have none of it. If he wanted to take her out of the street, he would need her to start trusting adults around them a bit more. 

“Come on, the last period is almost over. She must be in her classroom!”

He grabbed Ace’s wrist and her notebook and forced her to follow him in the corridors. The Runes Room was on the 6th floor and quite far from their Headquarter, so when they arrived, a small group of NEWT students were leaving the room – Harry smiled a ‘hello’ to Percy who was talking with a Ravenclaw girl. It was quickly empty, and Professor Babbling seemed to be reading some papers at her desk. 

“Excuse-me, Professor Babbling?” Harry made them known. 

He was still holding Ace’s wrist in his hand. The girl was a bit withdrawn and was slightly hiding behind him. 

“Oh, Mister Potter,” Professor Babbling said. “Good evening! What can I do for you? Are you encountering some issues with your next translating assignment?”

“Good evening,” he said. “No, everything alright. My friend, here, has worked on the runic formula of our shared heart-easer bracelets and we wanted to know if what she is trying to do is possible…”

He put the notebook on the desk for Professor Babbling to see. The Professor looked at Ace’s work for long seconds before nodding approvingly.

“Did you write that? What year are you? I don’t think you’re in one of my classes.”

Ace didn’t answer. Harry noticed how she was slightly pulling on his grip on her wrist, but he wouldn’t let her go so easily.

“She’s a first year. June Islington. She’s the one who drew the runes that we showed to you last year.”

The professor seemed surprised and looked at Ace more closely but must have decided that it was useless to ask too many questions just yet. 

“I see. Well, your variations in the formula are clever. I see what you’re trying to do – shared warmth, right?” This question received a very discrete nod from Ace. “However, I’m afraid it won’t work,” the professor finished. 

Maybe it was the tone the woman’s use or the frustration of making a mistake but when it came clear that Professor Babbling wouldn’t elaborate on her own, Ace frowned. 

“Why?” she mumbled. 

“Well, you see, here?” The Professor underlined a rune that looked like a mix of two runes Harry remembered from his Elder Futhark. “Thurisaz-Wunjo. It’s a temperature controller. If you don’t take it off, it will nullify the Ingwaz-Wunjo-Tera combination that you try to input here.”

“But if I take it off, there will be nothing else to counterbalance this part,” Ace showed some other part of the formula to the teacher. “I thought that the bracelet could meltdown if I take it off…”

“And you will be very right! I’m impressed, I think that most OWL students would have missed it if I had put that question in an exam… Indeed, you can’t take off the thurisaz-wunjo that easily without turning your bracelet into a burning hazard. The fact that this product is usually meant to young children is the reason why its entanglement is so strong in the formula. You could change it with this combination which is slightly weaker and should allow you to achieve your goal. I’m afraid it wouldn’t work perfectly though…” Ace was studying the professor’s new formula proposition and nodded as if she understood it. Harry had simply no idea what the difference was with the previous version. 

“Now, tell me what are you really trying to achieve with this new formula? I have some trouble to see why you would want for both bracelets to share the same warmth…”Professor Babbling asked. “Maybe I can help.”

Ace tensed again and didn’t answer so Harry did. 

“Well, we were thinking about using it as a mean of communication. When one of us wants to see the other, we would warm up our bracelet and the other would feel it on the other side. Then we could meet at a previously designated place…”

His explanation earned him a long stare from Ace while Professor Babbling was thinking about how they could achieve this result. 

“Hum… I think the easiest way is not to modify the current runes which are engraved in the gold of the bracelet and thus very difficult to touch without damaging the whole formula but to add a silver independent charm. That additional charm could be engraved with the combination that you came up with. This way, you could keep the main point of the hear-easer bracelet and add the new functionality. If you find someone to help you put a Protean Charm on the new part on top of that, you could also share small messages like a letter to designate a place or a number for the hour?”

“That would be awesome!!” Harry exclaimed. 

The woman nodded and examined the formula a bit longer. 

“I could get the materials to get that done next weekend if you’d like me to,” she said. “Would you like to assist, Miss Islington? As you’re the one who came up with that formula?”

Ace didn’t answer and when Harry looked back at her, he understood that she would not… It wasn’t showing on her face per se, but Harry knew that she was upset. Maybe he did push her a bit too hard here. 

“We will think about it,” he told his Ancient Runes professor while taking back Ace’s notebook. “Thank you again for everything.”

“My pleasure, Mister Potter. See you on Thursday then.”

“Yes! Good evening, professor.”

Ace waited for them to be in a deserted corridor a few stairs below the Runes classroom to force him to let go of her arm. She took away her notebook. 

“That was not what I wanted to do…” she mumbled angrily without meeting his eyes. 

“Not exactly, but it’s not that far from it,” Harry agreed. 

“It has nothing to do with what I was trying to do!”

“Well, I think it’s better that way,” he said, and she glared at him. “No, hear me out. If you’re cold or you’ve got a fever, I wouldn’t settle with just knowing about it! I would want to find you and bring you somewhere warm where you can rest or get some treatments if you need them! I want you to be able to contact me and I want you to know that you’re not alone! Is that clear? Because I know that I’ll never manage to convince you to come to live at the Diggorys’ with me but that’s not a reason to just abandon you there! I’m safe now and I want you to be safe too!”

She’s staring at him and for once, Harry was unable to read her eyes. 

“I don’t need your help… I’m okay…” she muttered.

“Well, thanks to your runes, I’ll be able to know if you’re ever not okay anymore and thanks to Professor Babbling’s charm, we could meet. I’m not leaving you out there alone again. You’re not alone.”

Her eyes were filling with tears, but she wouldn’t move or speak. She still had that undecipherable expression on her face and Harry couldn’t resist to take her in a tight hug. 

“You’re not alone,” he repeated. 

“You’re an idiot…” she sobbed quietly against his chest. 

“I don’t care… you would still have me. I won’t let you alone ever again no matter what.”

It took Harry a few more days to convince Ace that Professor Babbling’s idea was not that bad and could be useful. The girl had Harry promised her that he wouldn’t freak out if she didn’t answer immediately or if she contacted him for no reason in the middle of the night. Harry knew he was lying when he promised he wouldn’t, but it didn’t matter. 

Ace had so many questions for Professor Babbling when they met again – like why she was using a certain type of metal or what would be the consequence if she decided to change that rune to another Harry had never seen in his life. 

Harry caught himself smiling involuntarily at some point. He had to fight that smirk down when Ace looked back at him. Then, Professor Babbling put the final charm on and had them try it. It worked so perfectly that even Ace couldn’t stop a small smile out of her face. 

Harry managed to retain himself for almost three days until that night when Neville had gone to sleep before him, but he wasn’t that tired himself, so he had taken out the Marauders’ Map. He noticed the lonely nameless dot sneaking out what was probably Slytherin Common Room. He watched it avoiding Snape and a couple of prefects and making its way up to the Castle Ground. 

Harry moved his bed curtain to check on his dorm mates. Neville was sleeping, Ron and Seamus were snoring, and Dean seemed to be reading a book. He straightened back on his bed and spread out the map before him. He then grabbed the bracelet on his wrist to warm it up and watched as the nameless dot stopped on its track. 

“Black Lake in 10’?” he whispered while connecting his wand to the silver tag. 

The small letters appeared in the new blank space. He flipped the metal band on the other side, waiting until it warmed up on its own and a simple letter appeared on that side. 

‘_K_’

Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak from his trunk and sneaked out of the dorm while trying not to be noticed by Dean. The air outside the Castle was freezing cold but Harry was wearing the self-warming sweater that Neville had given his for Christmas, so it was bearable. 

He quickly spotted Ace by the Lake; she was petting Dog who was eating the leftover she must have brought. They both turned their head his way when he came closer and he took off the Cloak. 

“Hey,” he said. 

Dog barked happily. He seemed to be doing well even after being alone during the Holidays. 

“Did you have anything in mind when you ask me to meet?” Ace asked. 

“Not really… Couldn’t sleep and, I guess you weren’t sleeping either…”

Harry wondered if he should tell Ace about the Map. With the way she dissected their bracelet, she would certainly do exactly the same with the Map if she ever put a hand on it and Harry wasn’t ready to lose his best friend to some frantic academic quest just now. 

“I was planning on going into the Forest,” she said as Dog finished his treat. “You’re in?”

Harry eyed her critically. 

“Going into the FORBIDDEN Forest at night? What could go wrong? Last time it happened I just found a monster drinking blood out of a dead unicorn after all…”

He knew it wouldn’t stop her and Ace didn’t believe him anyway. So, he started walking to the wood. 

“You’re just saying that to scare me away,” she said while following him. 

“I’m not. It really happened when I was in 1st Year.”

“And what were you doing in the _forbidden_ forest at night? Mister Teacher Pet?”

“I’m not a teacher pet! I just couldn’t afford to be on the teachers’ bad side while living at the Dursleys’… and you know it! Anyway, if you must know, I was serving detention with Hagrid for getting caught while smuggling a baby dragon out of the Castle…”

Ace started laughing. 

“Now, you’re just messing with me. There’s no way Malfoy and Longbottom let you do that and get caught!”

“We were not really hanging out together at the time…” Harry sighed. He was still feeling guilty about how he had acted during his 1st year. He knew that the Compulsion Charm was probably at fault and he had talked about it with Daisy… but it was still saddening him to think about it. “They got too close too quickly and you weren’t responding to my letters… So, I freaked out and pushed them away after Christmas when I discovered that they talked to Snape about my… situation with the Dursleys…”

“You told them back during your first semester here?” Ace asked. 

“Not really… not everything… But they guessed that there was something wrong… I mean, I had a panic attack when Draco told me that his father would ask my uncle if I could stay with them for Christmas… So, of course, I had to explain that…”

Ace nodded but didn’t comment further. 

“I was friend with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley at the time…” Harry admitted. 

Ace grimaced at that. “Why?! The girl is a nightmare! I’m sure she talked to McGonagall about me too…”

“Why do you think that?”

“McGonagall pestered me about having enough spare time to study runes when I barely do her assignments… It’s not my fault if Transfiguration is boring and useless as shit!! I mean, I know it’s only beginner stuff for now and Lupin told me that it gets better in the next years, but I looked it up and everything seemed far too time and energy consuming for poor results… I’d rather focus on Charm, Defence or Potions…”

Harry couldn’t help a small laugh. Ace had always been practical. 

“Well, I don’t know… Being able to transfigure oneself is a good way to hide? Or to disable an opponent in a duel…”

“There are other ways to disable opponents… like cutting their tongues… or arm… or head…”

“You know you’re not supposed to kill them, right?”

“Yeah… I don’t see the point of duelling if one’s life is not at stake…” she analysed pensively. 

“Well… What about animagus transformation? You’re always running away, wouldn’t your chance of survival or staying unnoticed on the run be greater if you were an animal?”

Dog japed approvingly and Ace stroke his head softly. 

“Depending on the animal, I guess… But good runes can also keep people away. I found a book on warding but it’s kind of complicated… Do you reckon your teacher could help me with some of it?”

“Professor Babbling? Sure. I can ask her if you want.”

Ace nodded again. They were now deep into the Forest, but the girl seemed to know where she was going so Harry didn’t question it. She stopped from time to time to pick up some plants that Harry recognized from his Potions book. 

“Why did you fight? Granger and you, I mean,” Ace asked.

Harry sighed. “She did something bad… last year… and she hurt Draco. Draco had a bad year, last year… Everyone thought that he was the Heir of Slytherin. He was supposedly petrifying muggle-born students and squib’s cats just to prove that he was superior. It wasn’t him, of course, but Hermione and Ron were determined to prove that it was him and that he cursed me to like him or something… They took it a step too far on Christmas day when they took a potion to make them look like Neville and me. They were probably trying to make Draco confess and I don’t know what happened because Draco never talked about it but… after that… something changed between us. I mean, sometimes, Draco looks at me and he seems so sad. Even now! I don’t know what it is that she did, or she said when she looked like me, but Draco can’t completely get over it and I’ll never forgive her for that!”

Ace looked at him for the longest time without a word. Harry didn’t mind. His brain was whirling about all the ways he hated Hermione and couldn’t forgive her. And now she was after Ace and even if the girl knew how to defend herself, he couldn’t let something like last Christmas happen again. 

“To be honest, I’m not even sure I’ve ever been really friend with her.” Harry shook his head, maybe he needed to tell that part to someone… “I had those compulsion charms on me… until Easter of last year? And… When we noticed that I was under them, I was supposed to note every time they were acting up – my ring can sense it. I told Draco and Neville that I couldn’t find any common occurrence, but it wasn’t true. They were stronger every time she or Ron would try to make me do something or agree with them… Because of that, I’m not even sure my 1st year is true anymore… It’s kind of blurry anyway and there’s no doubt that I would have jumped right in that bloody pipe to fight the basilisk myself if Ron or Hermione had been around me at that time instead of Neville last year…”

“What basilisk?!!” Ace asked, stopping abruptly. 

“Oh, you don’t know? There’s a mad basilisk under the Second Floor Girls' Lavatory… Well, apparently it’s not mad anymore… but, hey, it’s not as if I’ve checked that!” 

He smirked and she pouted. 

“You’re messing with me again!” she whined. 

“I’m not! There really is a basilisk under the Castle! We found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets with Neville last year and we send Snape to check what was inside. We could have killed him when I think about it… Draco would have been so sad and mad at us if we did…”

“Can we go now????” Ace asked excitedly. 

“What?! No! It’s too dangerous!” Harry said. “And why are you so excited? Aren’t you supposed to be a Slytherin, not a bold Gryffindor?”

“Come on, Har’! You said the basilisk isn’t mad anymore! If it tries to attack, you could probably talk to it, couldn’t you? Do you know how much we could make by selling basilisk’s skin??? It’s even more expensive than dragon scales!!”

“And what would we need that money for?!”

“To live, of course! I mean, it’s not as if we could stay at that Castle with food and a bed for the rest of our lives!” Ace argued. 

That sentence sent something heavy and cold in Harry’s guts. Did Ace plan on leaving? Or was she just talking about the summer? He suddenly saw their little trip in the forest under a new light. 

“Ace? Why do you need all those potion ingredients for? They’re not used in 1st-year potion curriculum…”

“I know. There’re for 6th and 7th years… Do you know that some of those only grow here? They were so expensive when I went to the potion shop in London! Thanks for the tips about how to get there by the way! It was quite useful! Anyway, I think I could sell them for one or two golden pounds each… it’s like half the price of the market but… I mean… I have unlimited access to it!”

“How many times did you come here at night? Alone??”

“I wasn’t alone… Dog is always with me! Right, Dog?”

Dog barked playfully. Even if Harry was confident that the dog was big enough to protect Ace from most of the creatures in the Forest, he knew that size didn’t really matter – if Fang was anything to go by. 

“If you told me where they hide the dead unicorns, I could be rich real soon!” Ace nodded determinedly. 

“You should stop that, it’s dangerous. If you need money, I’ll give you some.”

Ace stopped smiling at that offer. 

“I’ve already told you. I don’t need your money, Har’…”

“Why? I’ve got plenty!”

“And you might need it someday! I can’t take that away from you!”

“I won’t need it. I’m taken cared of! I have a foster home, the parents of my friends are ready to adopt me, and they’re loads too! I don’t need it, really Ace.”

She looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. 

“That might change. You don’t know what can happen… They’re not your parents. Any of them. They don’t have any obligation to take care of you if they change their mind… Anyway, you should keep it. I can take care of myself.”

Harry could tell that this discussion was closed and that he couldn’t take anything more out of her. He hated when she was like that, but he knew he couldn’t force her. 

“We should go back… it’s getting late…” she mumbled while packing one last straw of asphodel. 

Harry let her be but couldn’t let her go without trying to make things better between them. 

“Ace?” he called her as the wood was becoming clearer. “I’m sorry, ok? I’m just worried and I want to help you because I can… really.”

She didn’t answer. 

“If you want me to, I’ll go down and bring back that basilisk’s skin for you, ok? But I don’t think that’s the solution, is it? What about buying a house or an apartment and lend it to you for when you’re not at school? You can give it back to me when we’re older!”

That offer snatched a small smile off her face. 

“You’re not _that_ rich.”

“I’m pretty sure I am!” Harry exclaimed. “But I don’t have access to my whole money yet… it might be arranged when I get properly adopted… I should ask Draco; his father probably knows.”

Ace sent him that undecipherable look again. It made him feel as if she was trying to engrave that moment in her memories before disappearing forever again… He hated it. 

“Is there any chance I can convince you to leave that safe but deserted place you told me about?” he asked. 

She shrugged. “I probably won’t go back there anyway… It’s not safe anymore… Not unless those monsters kill Black or something already…” she sighed. 

Dog whined and she petted his head softly. 

Harry didn’t understand why she was so frightened by Sirius Black. He certainly wasn’t the only criminal on the run or who had avoided justice… Maybe he was the only magical one… but that seemed unrealistic. 

“Then I’ll find you another place!” he decided. “A place where Sirius Black can’t go. Leave it to me, ok?”

He waited and even if she still wouldn’t meet his eyes, she eventually nodded, and it was all he was asking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost done writing Harry's 3rd year!!! Yay me!!!
> 
> Ace is a bit of a rune-nerd... XD   
Anyway, I hope you're all safe and healthy! Please tell me what you think!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready to hate Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hermione?
> 
> Well, I should probably put some TW here... For bullying and assault, between students resulting in one of them getting partially undress in front of the rest of the school... I guess? I don't know how to define it... Tell me if there is a name for this kind of trigger though and I will fix it!

Severus was waiting for the staff meeting to end. He needed to talk to Professor Babbling. 

Feuds between first years were common in Slytherin. Usually, internal house politics and subtlety only kicked in around the 3rd or the 4th year in school… So, when the second dorm of the first-year boys took fire last night, he was neither surprised nor impressed… 

The fire was quickly extinguished. However, what was most curious about this _attack_ was that the fire seemed to have been coming from the inside of Cygnus Crabbe’s trunk. The boy has certainly been the target – not surprisingly as he had been most despicable to many of his classmates since the beginning of the school year. What was worrying Severus was that this incident wasn’t just due to an unmastered fire-making spell but from a complex looking a NEWT level rune circle hide between a pile of poorly written essays. 

First years’ quarrels were one thing, having a NEWT student involved in what could have ended in the death of the Heir of a Noble and Most Ancient Family was another… And Severus wouldn’t have that in his House!

The meeting eventually ended. 

“Bathsheda, may I have a word,” Severus told his colleague as she was getting up. “I need your expertise.” The woman smiled pleasantly and move to sit next to him. “See, there has been an _incident_ in one of the Slytherin dorms last night and I was wondering if you perhaps recognize this handiwork…” He explained while taking out the half-burnt parchment paper. 

The Ancient Runes professor took it and inspected it carefully. “Most curious indeed… do you have any suspect in mind?” she asked. 

“Severus, may I have a word!” Minerva McGonagall stopped him before he could answer. “It seems that one of your students has been spotted wandering around secluded areas of the Castle lately…”

The Transfiguration professor’s high-pitched voice was making it clear that the woman wouldn’t take it to be ignored and wouldn’t leave him alone as long as she didn’t receive an appropriate answer. 

“And who that student might be?”

“First-year June Islington, of course! The girl has been seen wandering around the 7th floor where no first year has any class or reason to be…”

“And where the person who has been witnessing this certainly has business to be, I’m sure,” he completed while mimicking her tone. The decrease in students during the last decade made it that there was no class on the 7th floor anymore. “Was it a Prefect? Or a Teacher maybe?” Severus sneered. He knew that none of these propositions was correct as Granger has been spotted following Islington around several times already. One of his prefects even came to him in concern because having a Gryffindor following you around had never been a good sign to any Slytherin in the past. 

“They… they were just a concerned student that came to me in confidence. We both know that Professor Dumbledore asked you to watch the girl carefully. Her past and up-bringing are still a complete mystery! I thought that you ought to know that the girl was behaving suspiciously. After what happened during Hallowe’en night and yet again for the Christmas Holidays…”

“I’m very much capable of looking after my own students, Minerva. Thank you very much. However, as far as I’m concerned, going to the 7th floor during a free period of the day isn’t against the rule, even for a first year. Thus, I would advise your concerned student to mind their own business. Good night, Minerva,” he sneered before looking back at Bathsheda Babbling. “Where were we? Ah, yes. I was guessing maybe a NEWT student? It looks nothing like what I remembered studying back in school… Of course, I stopped after passing my OWL in the subject, so I’d be very glad to hear your insight.”

Severus purposely ignored Professor McGonagall when she sighed loudly and gave up. 

Professor Babbling thankfully didn’t comment on that encounter. “I’m not even sure one of my current NEWT students could come up with something like that…” she said pensively, rotating the parchment to change her perspective. “It’s like…”

“Severus, may I talk to you?”

Severus groaned internally before sending deadly glares at Lupin. That was one of the main reasons why he hated staying behind after a staff meeting. Why so many people wanted to talk to him all the time???

“It’s okay Severus,” Professor Babbling laughed softly next to him. “Do you mind if I take this with me? I would want to study it more thoroughly.”

“Of course. Please contact me if you find anything that could point me to a suspect,” he answered and politely nodded to the woman’s good night before getting back at glaring at Lupin. “What?” he asked when the other man clearly wasn’t ready to talk. 

“May I walk you to the dungeons?” the wolf answered uncomfortably. 

Severus sneered. Back in his school years, he would have never accepted this kind of proposition from his old nemesis… but they were supposed to be grown-ups now… Surely, his _friends_ weren’t there anymore to ambush him in a deserted corridor. 

He got up and strolled out of the staff room without looking if Lupin was following or not. Of course, the wolf was. 

“What is it that you want so badly to talk to me about?” he snapped after a few too many minutes of uncomfortable silence.

“… June Islington…” the wolf admitted.

Severus couldn’t repress a sigh. Of course, it was about her. Everything this year seemed to be about her. The girl was a nightmare. 

“Do… do you know who is handling her case in the Ministry? Any word about who is going to be granted custody during the summer?” Lupin asked softly. 

Severus stopped in his track. No, he hadn’t. He hadn’t heard anything actually…

“Why do you ask?” he sneered, hiding away his revelation. 

“You’re her Head of House. Surely, the Ministry would have contacted you and not Dumbledore directly and… Anyway. Harry offered me 300 galleons a month if I accept to take her in for the summer vacations. He also told me that he intended to pay for all her expenses and school supplies.”

It was snickering, Severus thought. 

“Good for you. I guess you could use the money. I mean, you probably haven’t been getting access to this kind of easy money since you stopped whoring yourself to Black…”

Severus certainly didn’t expect being thrown against the nearest wall because of that comment. 

“Take that back!” the wolf growled threateningly. His eyes were shivering an angry yellow and Severus had to fight back an old and compulsive terror from showing in his face. Some of it must have been showing though as the wolf blinked slowly before letting him go. “S-sorry…” he muttered. “I… The full moon is near, and the wolf is… Anyway, I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry.”

The wolf stepped back, and Severus was glad that he didn’t look up too quickly because he hadn’t been caught by surprise like that in a very long time… He knew he couldn’t trust that beast to act civilized for long…

“But for the record,” Lupin continued. “I’ve never accepted any money from Sirius. Of course, both him and James used to spend some on me, but I’ve never asked for it! And I don’t intend to take any money from Harry either. It’s just… I don’t know if it’s just because she won’t tell him or if she doesn’t intend to go to whatever fostering home that had been appointed for her, but Harry is pretty convinced that June has nowhere to go to at the end of the semester. And I don’t think it’s a 13-year-old’s job to make sure his friend has a home to go back to! Do you know anything about this?”

Severus straightened his crumpled robe. No way he admitted to the wolf how scared and helpless he had just made him feel… just as if he was back in his first years at Hogwarts… No. He gave himself a second to raise his occlumency wards. 

“I don’t,” he said while controlling his voice. “Which is not normal… Dumbledore was supposed to take care of it back in September, but I haven’t heard from him on this matter since.”

“Can we go to him?” Lupin asked, staring at him with his unnaturally amber eyes. 

“Now?!!” Severus choked.

The wolf nodded and Severus sighed. He hated Gryffindors so much… The best way to go about it was probably to give in on that though. 

“Fine.”

However, the meeting with Dumbledore was even more unsettling than the wolf’s sudden act of brutality. 

“What do you mean reporting her?” the old man was asking. “I very much asked _you_, Severus, to discover who she was and what her intentions were. I thought you were helping on that matter, Remus, my boy? Using your kindness to lure the girl into opening up? We don’t need the aurors or dear old Cornelius getting their noses in that matter…”

The rest of the discussion was a pointless argument about why getting the Ministry involved was not an option. If the girl was indeed a dark witch or wizard in disguise or being raised by such people, Dumbledore expected Severus to use her to take the whole group of dissident wannabe Death Eater down with her… This was even more sickening for Severus than Potter throwing his money on Lupin… How could the old man ask him so openly to use a 12-year-old as a bait?!

Lupin and Severus were walking silently back to their quarters in utter astonishment from the lack of empathy of their former mentor… Of course, Severus knew about it. Dumbledore had always been inclined to sacrifices for the _Greater Good_… but this? They weren’t on war anymore. What was the point? Was he missing something? 

“Severus… I… Can’t do this,” Lupin muttered next to him as they were going closer to the wolf’s office. “When he didn’t do anything to help Sirius back then, I thought that maybe it was because the Black family was too powerful… Even the Potters struggled with them. With Harry… maybe… maybe it was just negligence… maybe what he said to the court was true, he was trying to protect him and didn’t know that those charms could have perverse side effects… But this? What is the point of forcing this poor girl back in the street or to whoever has mistreated her for the last two years?!! I mean, you don’t need to be a seer to see that she isn’t looked after! Does she finally unpacked or is she still walking around with all her belongings in that backpack all day?!”

Severus didn’t answer. He doubted the wolf was waiting for an answer anyway. He was surprised that the man knew about Dumbledore’s negligence about Potter though… That case was classified as confidential by the DMLE… yet, maybe the boy told him about it… 

“I…” his old nemesis continued. “I can’t let him… I just…” He started pacing nervously talking to himself, a perfect embodiment of a feral beast in cage… 

At one point, the Potion Master asked himself if he shouldn’t just leave him there… When the wolf suddenly looked up. 

“Severus, I need to ask you something.”

Severus shivered when those determined yellow eyes dove on him. He should definitely spend less time with that monster for his personal mental stability. 

Draco was walking with Neville after one of their Muggle Studies class when he noticed Helios, his father’s owl, flying around the Castle by the window. 

The bird’s goal was clear as he started following them window by window until the next openable one. Draco quickly relieved him from his letter. 

‘_To be read before the Prophet_’, it said on the envelope. The bird didn’t even wait for him to open it before flying away again… Always so busy, that bird, really. 

“Is something wrong?” Neville asked next to him. 

Draco didn’t have anything in mind that could be. He quickly read the letter and sighed. 

“I think we should join Harry for this,” he told Neville before heading out to their headquarter. 

Thankfully, Harry was there, sitting on the thick carpet by the fire and reading that giant map the Weasley Twins gave him. 

“Hey,” Neville announced them when Harry failed to notice by himself. 

He looked up and gave them a weak smile. 

“Hey,” he said back before looking down at the map again, slightly frowning. 

“What’s the matter?” Draco asked while sitting on the couch behind him. His eyes immediately settled on Harry’s neckline… he should stop that because that part of Harry’s body had been on his dream the previous night and now Draco just wanted to kiss it…

“Nothing,” Harry sighed. “I think the Map is broken…”

Neville stood just next to Harry to see what he was looking at. 

“How come?” he asked. 

“Well… Was Hermione with you during Muggle Studies?” he asked. 

“Unfortunately,” Draco confirmed looking away. 

“Well, she was at the library, by the back window, at the same time!” Harry said. “I was pondering going there to check and then, when you went out of class, the other spot just disappeared! It made no sense!”

“What? That Granger is in two places at the same time or that your map is _glitching_?” Draco smirked. 

Harry eyed him quickly. “Oh, so you’re finally studying computer science?” 

“_Electronic Systems_,” Neville corrected him. “But yeah, we learned that term just today.”

“Did I correctly use it?” Draco wondered, pretending to be excited. 

And Harry started laughing and Draco’s heart skipped a beat. He loved that sound too. 

“Yes. Even though I’m not sure the verb form had been accepted by Cambridge dictionary yet… I mean, I’m not sure Aunt Petunia would know what that means!”

Draco tried his best not to react. Harry barely ever mentioned his relatives and hardly ever so lightly without becoming sour just after saying their names out loud. But the dark clouds didn’t seem to come. He guessed his therapy with Diggory’s mother was working then. 

“Why were you stalking Hermione?” Neville asked. 

Harry scoffed. “I wasn’t stalking her! It just that the Slytherin 1st years have a flying lesson just now and I was thinking that one could have a good view from the back of the library’s windows…” he explained, pointing at the group of dot points moving erratically from the ground level. 

One of the dots didn’t have a name. Harry had said that this was the reason he told them but not Ace about the map. He didn’t want the girl to be disappointed because even that powerful item couldn’t find out her real name… 

The girl was always in Harry’s mind. Draco knew it and was still trying to accept it, but it was sometimes hard not to let his jealousy get the better of him. 

“What about that letter, Draco?” Neville asked before sitting next to him. 

“What letter?” Harry asked. 

“My father wrote,” he quickly explained. “He just wants to inform me – and you two – that Sirius Black’s trial will take place next week…”

“Did they catch him??!” Neville exclaimed. 

“No. They will reopen the trial even without him… Apparently, there are some new elements on the table, especially on the charges about Black’s involvement on your parent’s case, Nev’… He didn’t tell me about the details. Just that someone seemed to have leaked to the Prophet that ‘_Lord Malfoy_’ was at the origin of the urge for a trial and… well, so we know what is waiting for us tomorrow morning if the Prophet decides to go down that path again.”

He gave them the letter as there was nothing, he couldn’t share with them in it. The Gryffindors read it quietly. 

“Does that mean they hold up the kill on sight order?” Harry eventually asked. 

“Not that I know of, no…”

Harry had never been comfortable with that idea. They had talked a bit about it since the previous summer and for him, it was a question of Human Rights – a muggle concept. According to him, everyone has a right to a fair trial… even if they were talking about the man who was the reason why neither he nor Neville grew up with parents. 

“Gran always says that even if Black was at the origin of the false trail, it was the Auror department’s responsibility what happened to my parents… Do you know if they have more elements on that line?”

Draco shook his head. He didn’t know more than everything he already told them. 

Thankfully, the Prophet of the next morning didn’t emphasize too much on Draco’s father’s part on its article about Black’s trial. Actually, the new elements could lead to review the Wizengamot’s position on both the Longbottom’s and the Potter’s charges, but everything was kept confidential by the DMLE. 

Neville seemed far more curious than Harry about those elements. Harry was strangely distant, yet again he had never been a big fan of speculations about the circumstances of his parents’ death. 

“I just want all this to be over with…” Harry had sighed at one point, leaning his head on Draco’s shoulder on the piano’s bench of their Headquarter. 

Draco had done his best to pretend he wasn’t going to explode and started playing something to force his brain to focus on something else. 

Of course, Draco asked his father if he could tell him anything. The man answered that he couldn’t talk about it as the trial was still in process. The DMLE was so preoccupied with confidentiality that the Wizengamot was sworn to take a non-disclosure vow. Augusta Longbottom who was sitting in the trial gave the same answered to Neville. 

The only available source of information should then be Severus. The man was Draco’s father’s best friend and always knew what was going on. So, on that afternoon, Draco made use of one of his free periods to visit his honorary uncle. He didn’t expect to find the door of his office open though, and even less to hear his voice from the corridor as if he wouldn’t give his counterpart even the courtesy of a privacy charm. 

“… what I am saying, Islington, is that I don’t believe Professor Babbling when she says you might have come up with this alone. So now tell me, who helped you?”

Draco glanced inside the room. The girl was facing their Head of House who was showing her a burnt piece of parchment. She didn’t answer the man’s question. 

“If you gave me that person’s name, I might consider lifting your detention for attempting murder. Think carefully, Islington.”

Severus’s voice was ice cold and Draco didn’t know how the girl managed to stay so impassable. He didn’t know many 1st years that could oppose the Potion Master so effortlessly. Yet he doubted Severus really thought that she had tried to kill someone, otherwise she would be facing expulsion, not detention. 

“… I didn’t try to kill him… and he was the one who starting it by trying to steal my work…” she mumbled. 

“Are you implying that it was retaliation?”

“… more like a trap? It’s not my fault if he fell for it.”

Very few people would have noticed or managed to interpret the subtle eyebrow movement Severus had at that answer. Only years of knowing the man lead Draco to understand that he was impressed.

“It will be two weeks of detention. Professor Babbling had asked to personally oversee it. If she managed to prove that this is not a fraud, she asked to be able to offer you private tutoring on Ancient Runes starting next year.”

That made the girl reacting far more than any menace. Draco wondered what she had done to catch Professor Babbling’s attention… Yet, the girl had proven that she was a runes prodigy already – if Harry’s heart-easier bracelet or her sudden privacy bubbles were anything to go by. He wondered if Severus knew about that… 

“There will be conditions though,” the Head of Slytherin warned her. “One of them is a noticeable improvement in your Transfiguration grades. You cannot be offering early elective classes if you are failing one the required subjects…” 

When the girl didn’t answer, the man sighed. 

“You can go now. Professor Babbling is waiting for you in 15 minutes for your first detention, I guess you know where her class is?”

The girl vaguely nodded and left the room. She stopped next to Draco but didn’t seem surprised to see him here. 

“What have you done?” Draco whispered. 

She shrugged. “Nothing Crabbe didn’t deserve… What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to speak to Snape,” Draco answered. He wondered if she thought he was spying on her or something. 

“I see… well, later then.”

And she left. Draco couldn’t decide if they became closer or not during the last few months. Of course, she was sometimes with them at their Headquarter and Harry spent half of his free time stalking her, but he wasn’t sure they ever really talked without Harry initiating the conversation. 

Two hours later, he crossed her path again on his way to the Great Hall. 

She was talking to Nott and it made him think that he was probably the right person to help her with her Transfiguration issue as he was one of the best of their year in that subject. That, of course, if he was ready to help her. They unquestionably seemed close enough so that she gave him something shiny that Draco couldn’t recognize. 

“Evening, Draco,” Nott acknowledged him, certainly to notify Ace that they weren’t alone anymore. Draco’s eyes followed the shiny device disappearing in the other boy’s pocket. 

Yet, the use of his first name indicated that Nott wanted his cooperation on this. 

“Evening, Theodore. Hello again Ace, how was detention?”

She shrugged and muttered something to Nott who nodded before going away. 

“It was okay,” she finally answered Draco. “Not as boring as usual… maybe…”

Draco smirked. She enjoyed it then… They walked together to the Great Hall and sat on the Slytherin table while waiting for Harry. Neville was already sitting at the Gryffindor table with his girlfriend, but Granger was just next to them, so this was definitely not an option. 

It didn’t take long for Harry to arrive, but he was stopped by his Quidditch Captain. Their hair was wet. They were probably back from a training session then. Harry ran his hand in his hair and drew it backwards, exposing his defined chin, a tired yet satisfied smile of his face. 

“Are you planning on telling him?” Ace asked next to him. 

“What?” 

“Harry. That you want to fuck him.”

Draco almost choked on his glass of water. How did she know? Was he that obvious? Did she tell Harry? Did Harry know?!! Wait! Did she say f…

“I don’t…” but the face she made stop him from finishing his lie. “I wouldn’t put it in those words…” he said instead while looking away. 

“Well, whatever word you choose, you should tell him. Har’ is a bit thick on that matter…”

Draco refused to meet her eyes. What good could come from telling him? He was obviously not feeling the same way about him and that could cost him their friendship…

Then something hit him. 

“Wait, you’re muggle-raised, right?! And you don’t mind?!”

“What are you talking about? Anyway, I can’t say those muggles really raised me…”

“That’s not what I mean! About… me, liking Harry,” he said lower. “We’re both boys… I thought muggles were a bit… against this kind of relationships. Aren’t you worried that I gave him that deadly disease… AIDS?”

She frowned. 

“Why? Are you positive?”

“What?”

He didn’t understand what she meant and her rolling her eyes wasn’t helping. 

“Did you ever have unprotected sex?” she clarified. 

“I’m 13!” Draco scoffed. “I’ve never…”

“Yeah, right… You’re a privilege virgin, your age doesn’t matter. Anyway, do you do drugs? Are you using unsterilized or shared needles?”

“I’m 13,” Draco repeated.

“And as I said, that as nothing to do with the matter… Anyway, there are very few chances you’re positive at this point so I don’t see how you could give it to him. And if there’s any doubt, just protect yourselves when you’re doing it and get screened asap, that’s all.”

“What?” Draco was completely lost, and she seemed to think that he was dumb. He wanted to correct that and to know more! But not now! Now, Harry was coming their way. “Ok, later, please,” he muttered quickly. 

He hated her mocking smirk too. 

“Hey!” Harry greeted them. “What were you talking about?”

Draco’s brain was working to find a plausible lie, but the girl was faster. 

“Malfoy’s sex and drug abuse habits,” she said. 

Draco’s heart stopped. It really stopped. How was he going to explain that to Harry?!! What was he going to say?!!

But Harry just… laughed it off. 

“Really? And how did you get to that topic?”

Draco’s brain was boiling. What was the charm to take someone’s mouth off again??? He needed it now before she answered Harry’s question!! Wait, would Harry take her side if he so obviously attacks her here, in front of him??? Would he hate him????

“Anyway, I don’t want to know. Ace, bullying is bad. Stop harassing Draco, please?” Harry asked with a soft smile on his lips. 

“You’re no fun,” she answered with a similar smile on her face. 

Draco wanted to just disappear and nearly had another heart attack when Harry’s hand stroke his on the table to catch his attention. 

“Hey, don’t let her persecute you. She’s a brat.”

“You’re the brat,” she answered next to Draco. “Oh, I got detention by the way…”

“Again?!!” Harry laughed. 

And with that, the conversation started about Ace’s latest _pranks_ on people who had wronged her. Apparently, she had been talking to the Weasley twins and Crabbe was going to have it for his money… Draco took note to try and never be on her bad side.

“What about Hermione? Does she bother you again?” Harry asked. 

The girl shrugged. “She shouldn’t be a problem anymore…”

“What have you done?!!” Harry laughed while serving himself a large slice of treacle tart. 

Another shrug. This was definitely her main mean of communication… Draco’s mother would be horrified by such a lack of etiquette. They switched topic again on some dog and Draco didn’t engage in the conversation… He was thinking about what the girl had told him. She had acted as if there was nothing to worry about. Of course, he didn’t understand much of what she asked him or told him but still… she was ok with it? She didn’t think it was gross like Granger did… So maybe there was a chance that Harry accepted him too… maybe. 

They finished eating and was walking out of the Great Hall when Harry approached him. 

“Everything okay?” he asked in a low voice. “Don’t think too much about whatever she told you, she was probably just kidding around… We can talk later if you want?”

“Islington!” Professor McGonagall stopped them before Draco could answer. 

The stern woman seemed furious and Granger was just behind her, clearly upset. What was going on? Ace’s face was slytherinly emotionless. 

“Miss Granger just told me that you stole something very valuable from her. I will give you one opportunity to give it back without repercussion.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“What is going on?” Neville asked while joining them. 

“That girl stole my… she stole it from me! I swear Professor. Just before diner. We ran into each other and then she stole it!”

“What are you talking about? We went to the Great Hall together after Herbology and we didn’t cross A- I mean June, at all,” Neville informed them. 

“You had detention, right?” Harry asked the 1st year. 

“Yeah… until 7p.m.”

“Then we were already in,” Neville said. “Why are you lying, Granger?” 

“I’m not lying! We ran into each other by Professor Babbling’s class! Why would a 1st year see the Ancient Runes professor anyway?! I’m sure she’s up to something again! And she stole it!”

Draco looked at the people around him. Neville thought that Granger was crazy. Harry was getting angry at her for going after his best friend again. Ace was on the defensive, maybe she was guilty, maybe she was just used to being accused of doing this kind of things for absolutely no reason. Granger story wasn’t making any sense, yet Professor McGonagall didn’t seem to doubt her side of the story. 

“What is going on?” Severus’s voice asked. 

The Potion Master joined them, and Professor McGonagall quickly explained to him that Ace was suspected to have stolen an _artefact_ from Granger and from the way both adults were acting, Severus knew what that might be. 

“Islington, have you stolen something from Granger?” the man asked sternly. 

“I’m not a thief…” she said defensively.

“Of course, you are! You live in the street!” Granger said. “Now, if you won’t give it back yourself, I’ll just take it!” She took out her wand and spoke before anyone could stop her. “_Evanesco_!”

Ace’s top cloth and backpack disappeared, their content crashing on the floor. The girl’s wand, a knife, books, school supplies, clothes, drawings from Harry, food… but what most shocking was that the girl was left half-naked in the middle of the corridor just in front of the Great Hall. 

Her body was covered in faded scars, worse than Harry’s, everywhere…

“What the fucking hell?!!” she screamed covering herself with her arms. 

Granger ignored her; she was rumbling into Ace’s stuff on the floor. Everyone seemed too shocked to react. 

“It must be here! I know she took it!” 

Draco eyed Harry, he seemed frozen in place, eyes locked on his friend’s scarred body. This couldn’t be good. Draco quickly took off his robe and put it around the 1st year’s shoulders. 

“What the hell, Granger?!!” he yelled. He then turned to the two adults. “Are you just condone that?!!”

This seemed to take them out of their stupor. 

“Fifty points from Gryffindor!” Snape said with a voice so cold Draco wondered if he was going to murder the girl. “Granger, conjure her belongings back this instant or it will be one hundred points!”

“No! She stole it! I’ll prove it! Here! On her neck!” Granger pointed frantically at the girl’s throat. 

Everyone looked at the thick gold chain. 

“Islington, may I?” Professor McGonagall asked. 

“No! It’s mine!”

But the woman had already charmed the piece of jewellery above her head. It was some kind of heavy gold locket with a serpentine S in glittering green stone inlay on the front. Definitely not something that Draco could imagine belonged to Granger. 

“It’s mine!!” Ace yelled while grabbing it again, but the charm held the locket in the air. 

She was holding Draco’s robe with one hand and the locket with the other, looking away as if she was on the verge of crying – and Draco could perfectly understand if she did. 

“Where do you get it?” McGonagall asked. “Severus, do you recognize this as belonging to any of your students?”

“_Finite Incantatem_,” the man spelt the hovering charm off and Ace almost crashed on the floor. “I don’t have any case of missing heirloom in my House, Minerva. And as a matter of fact, this is not what Miss Granger has reported as missing. Now, if your student is not careful enough to look after an artefact that the Ministry and the school have generously lent her, I think academic consequences should be added to the point loss. I suggest we take this to the Headmaster after Miss Granger gave my student her belongings back.”

“_Conpareo prodio_,” Professor McGonagall articulated, and the bag and the uniform appeared back on the floor. “Come on, Severus, I don’t think this will be necessary.”

“Your student just assaulted a First year. I think it is.”

They started fighting while Ace was hurriedly putting all her belongings back in her bag, scratching a book out of Granger’s hands. Draco tried to help her, but she didn’t let him. She grabbed her knife and took it to her arm. 

Draco’s attention was back on his other friends. Harry hadn’t moved – still looking at the place at the space where his friend had been. Neville was next to him, trying to get him to react to something else. Granger was frantically trying to defend her case to the two professors. Harry seemed to be on the verge of cracking down, they should take him out of there before he did. 

“Come on, let’s go,” Draco muttered to Neville more than Harry while they pulled him out of the corridor to their headquarter. They knew a new short cut thanks to the Map and were there quickly enough. 

“Harry? Are you okay? Do you hear us?” Neville called him. 

“He should have a Calming Draught vial on him, Diggory told him to always have one in hand!” Draco informed him. 

Neville nodded and started looking into Harry’s robe. Draco caught Harry’s head in his hands and tried to make eye contact with him. But Harry was somewhere else. He was trembling badly and would probably have a panic attack soon if they didn’t act quickly. 

“Found it!” Neville said giving the small vial to Draco. The Slytherin opened it and put it against Harry’s lips. “Come on, Har’… please drink it…” he pleaded. 

Harry mechanically grabbed the vial and drank the blue liquid before letting the vial fall to the floor. 

“Okay… okay…” Draco directed him to the sofa and Neville sat on the other side of him. 

A few seconds later, a first tear rolled down Harry’s chin, quickly followed by far too many others. He turned to Draco and hid his face against his shoulder. Draco hugged him the best that he could. He didn’t know what was going on, what had caused that. Was it the shock of seeing Ace’s scars? But Harry knew about them already… He had told them about her past…back when they thought she might be a squib… And they had stated that they had seen each other naked when they were younger too… that couldn’t be it…

Wait… Where was Ace?! They should have taken her with them too! Harry would want to know where she was!

“Neville? Could you take the map and try to see where Ace go?” he asked. 

The Gryffindor took the Map out of Harry’s bag. 

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” he mumbled. “Point me the dot without a name.”

The map extended and settled on the detail of the shore of the Black Lake. 

“She’s outside… alone,” he said. “Do you want me to go and fetch her?”

“I don’t think she will agree…” Draco sighed remembering how the girl had pushed him away before disappearing.

How did she do that? It wasn’t really as if she disappeared, it’s just that Harry and Neville and everything else had become more important than her after that… Did she cast a spell or something? Could a 1st year do something like that?

Harry started to calm down a bit in his arm. 

“Hey,” he called softly. “How do you feel?”

“Where is she?”

“By the Black Lake,” Neville answered. “Do you want to go to her?”

Harry shook his head and started crying again. 

“Harry, what is it?” Neville asked. 

But Harry just shook his head some more and went back to crying in Draco’s arms. They didn’t know why he was in that state but as always it was definitely because of his childhood friends and Draco and Neville were just left out, hopelessly trying to comfort them. 

The girl said that Harry was thick on this matter, but she was clearly thicker than him because if that wasn’t unconditional love, Draco didn’t know what was. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please please, tell me what you think???? Share your wildest theories! Express your indignation! I want to read it all !!! 
> 
> Oh and just FYI, I think I finished writing Harry's 3rd year and I think I will end Part 2 with chapter 17... But a Part 3 is definitely coming up after that! I'm just a bit undecided about how to title Part 3...


	13. Chapter 13

It took Harry around an hour to calm down. 

His mind was a mess and he was aware that the calming draught in his system was the only thing that was keeping his head above the water. He would need to talk to Daisy about it… he should probably write an owl this evening or the next morning… or at least tell Cedric.

However, he had something else in mind at the moment. He just couldn’t get rid of that image. Of that _scar_. Old enough to be sealed but bad looking enough to know that it hadn’t been treated properly and didn’t heal well. It looked painful too – as if it was still painful… How long ago did the event resulting in that scar happen? What was said event? It clearly could have cost his best friend’s life and he just didn’t have the slightest idea… 

_We all know what the life expectancy of a 10-year-old in London streets is…_

It was almost curfew time, but Harry couldn’t go back to Gryffindor Tower… When he told his friends, they both protested. But Draco needed to go back to the dungeons anyway, so it was not as if staying in his arms was an option – no matter how comfortable they were. And Neville could follow him on the Map if he was worried, it didn’t matter that much! But Harry knew that he hadn’t had a panic attack in months, so of course they were concerned… But he just couldn’t let this go. He needed to talk to her and make sure she was okay… _That she was still alive…_

So, Harry took his father’s cloak out of his school bag and said good night to his friends. He apologized to Neville who would probably need to come up with an excuse to why they didn’t come back together to the tower and promised Draco to let him know through one of the Twins’ paper birds when he would be back to his dorm. 

Harry’s only detour was to the kitchen to grab some snacks. It was raining outside. A perfect occasion to practice the umbrella spell they had been learning in Charms a few weeks back. His Invisibility Cloak was probably useless as the impervious bubble that appeared out of thin air was anything but discrete… But Harry wasn’t in the mood to get soaked in the chilling rain. 

He was determined and he intended to keep that feeling on the top of everything else. He couldn’t afford to give up and let his mind have the better out of him. Ace was safe and alive, and he would get answers!

He located the giant black dog before his best friend. They were under the covered dock. The large dog was lying around Ace who was hiding her face between her chest and her knees. Harry’s only wish was that she wasn’t currently crying. He had always been helpless against her tears… and he needed to get this through. 

The dog lifted his head when he heard him approaching and Harry got rid of his Cloak. Ace tightened her arms against her knees as if she was cold – or if she wanted him to leave her alone. 

“Hey,” Harry said and for a second, he thought that she would ignore him… 

“Hey,” she answered back unenthusiastically. She leaned her chin on her knees but didn’t look at him. 

At least, her cheek was dry. 

“I was kind of afraid you may have left…” he mumbled. “How do you feel?”

She shrugged. “I was planning to… but Dog didn’t let me…”

She didn’t look at him but patted the large dog’s head softly. 

She was still wearing Draco’s robe that was too large for her. She seemed so small in it with that oversized dog next to her. Harry knew that she grew up as much as he did during the two years, they were apart… Yet, right now, he felt much older than her… As if she had been stuck in time since he left her two years ago… As if she was still 10 but he was 13 now. And this was stupid. 

“I want to know what happened,” he said. 

“You were there, you saw what happened…” she sighed. 

“Not about that… even if, I’m curious about what you have stolen away from Hermione to get her into that state.”

She finally eyed him. “You just assume that I’m a thief?” she scoffed.

“No,” he said, sitting down next to her. He took the leftover of meat he got from the kitchen and gave it to Dog before taking out two cups of tea that an elf had charmed to keep warm and safe for travel. Ace accepted one with a small thank you. She refused the bread he offered her though. “I know you well enough to know you did it from the way you reacted to the accusation… And I also suspect that Hermione manages to be at two places at the same time lately, so your alibi doesn’t work for me… Not that this fact is enough to condone what she did to you in any way.”

She snorted but Harry knew the truth. 

“What is it?”

“I don’t even really know…” she explained. “It looks like a small hourglass with strange runes all around it… I didn’t have time to decipher them just yet. It’s not the language that is usually used on magical stuff in Britain… Anyway, she appeared out of thin air just when I was leaving my detention with Babbling and she was holding it as if it was some kind of device to get there… We _accidently_ hustled each other and I ended up with her stuff… I was curious because I’m sure it’s not a simple piece of jewellery so I gave it to Tee; He said he would look into it… His father collects items just like that, so he knows loads. I was thinking that if I knew where it’s from, I could have so clue about what it is and what it does…” She explained. “I _totally_ planned on giving it back to her afterwards but now, she can go to hell,” she finished with a frown. 

Harry observed his friend. _Tee_ was probably Theodore Nott. He didn’t know they were already close enough for her to give him a nickname… he felt a hint of jealousy at that. Of course, Draco had told him that Nott was decent with her despite his very Pureblood background… but Harry didn’t know the guy that well and thus didn’t know if he could really trust him. Anyway, that was not the point here. 

“Ace…” he sighed. “Stealing is bad…” She raised an amused eyebrow at that, and he shook his head. “I’ll make sure she got the punishment she deserves for what she did to you,” he then said. “Neville will tell Percy – he is the Head Boy – and Draco is writing his father – who’s on the Board of Governors – tonight. She will get a disciplinary hearing and if they don’t give her a fair amount of detention, I will tell them what she did to Draco last year and that she has been stalking you all year. I don’t care if she gets suspended or expelled! She has to stop going after my friends.”

Harry was furious not only with Hermione but also with Professor McGonagall who did nothing to interfere with her blatant assault! She even encouraged it by trying to take Ace’s necklace away! And Snape… Wasn’t he supposed to protect his students? Why didn’t he interfere more strongly??

“If you say so…” Ace sighed. She wasn’t believing him, and Harry knew it. They both had the same history about untouchable bullies after all. 

She sipped on her cup of tea while looking at the rain falling on the Lake. He had to do it. He had to ask her. 

“Anyway, it’s not really what I wanted to talk about… I saw it, you know? On your belly. I want to know what happened.”

He noticed how she tensed immediately. She would have told him already if it was something she wanted to talk about. Harry was sick of avoiding that topic. He needed to know what she had been up to for two years. She hadn’t been safe and if this scar was anything to go by, she could have died. 

“It’s in the past…” she started. 

“I don’t care,” he claimed to stop her from changing the subject. “How and when did you get that? And why didn’t you tell me? Tomorrow, we’ll go to Madam Pomfrey and you will show her. Is it still hurting?”

“No… well, most of the time at least… I don’t need to see…”

“You will. I’m not giving you the choice. I’ll drag you there if I need to!” he said determinedly before softening a bit. “She is good, you know. She helped me. She even testified during the trial against the Dursleys,” he explained.

This managed to convince her a bit but Harry wasn’t sure it would be enough. Anyway, that was his mission for the next day, right now he just wanted answers. 

“Tell me what happened after I left the Dursleys two years ago,” he asked. 

“You know already…”

“No. I want to hear it from you.”

He needed to be strong. She was stubborn but so could he. They stared at each other for long seconds that felt like hours before she finally gave in. 

“There isn’t much to say,” she mumbled, looking away why absentmindedly stroking Dog’s head. He had finished eating and was now lying peacefully between Harry and Ace. “You weren’t there at the bus stop – despite your promise – and the first week at Sutton was… awful. They called Mr Smith because we listed him as your contact info, remember?”

Harry nodded. They had done it, so the acceptance letter went to Ace’s house instead of the Dursleys’. This felt like a century ago. 

“Well, when I came back for the first weekend he was pissed. He got into an argument with your uncle because of what we did and… well, it probably didn’t help that I ask about you instead of apologizing first when I got home…”

“Did he… hurt you?” Harry failed to find the right words. He didn’t want her to remember that. 

“He just got a bit more handy than usual and it was nowhere near as bad as what your uncle used to do to you.” She didn’t let him enough time to argue that that was not a good standard. “Anyway, I didn’t really eat anything that weekend because I didn’t feel like it… Long story short, I fainted during a class on the next Monday and the school nurse noticed some bruises and then… well, they called social services then the police. I woke up in the Hospital. They said that they had found pictures of me at his house and wanted to know more…”

Harry pinched his lips. It couldn’t have been mere pictures. They wouldn’t have asked about it otherwise… He didn’t know if he really wanted to know everything… Because he had been there at the time. He had been there, and he hadn’t been able to protect her or anything… 

“Anyway, since the cops were interested in me, I thought I could use that to find out what happened to you. So, I told them that I wouldn’t say anything if they didn’t search your house first. And then, they came back saying you were just a pathological attention-seeking liar and that you had your own bedroom and not a cupboard under the stairs… They fucking bought whatever your aunt told them… I was so angry… and they thought I would just fucking talk to them after they just insulted you!” she spitted angrily. 

“That’s why you didn’t talk?” Harry muttered. “And Mr Smith got a reduced prison time…”

“It’s okay, it wasn’t really his fault anyway,” Ace mumbled, calming down immediately. 

Something very cold rumbled in Harry’s veins. She couldn’t be defending him.

“Ace, it’s not your fault! You weren’t even 10 at the time!”

“It started when I was 8 actually…” she sighed. “But it really wasn’t his fault. After Mrs Smith died, I was afraid that he would send me away and that I could lose you so I… _made_ him like me so he kept me… But then I didn’t know how to stop it and he started loving me too much and… he was trying to resist it! I mean, sure he liked to look, and he took pictures, but he barely ever touched me and…”

“Stop,” Harry pleaded. “Just… It’s not your fault! I can’t let you take responsibility for what happened to you! He was a grown man and you were just a kid!”

“A magical kid. And he’s a muggle. If it wasn’t for me, he would have had a happy life and would have got the opportunity to know his grandson… If anyone knew about that, I would probably be the one to go to prison… It’s forbidden, you know… to use magic on muggles.”

“Ace!” Harry objected. This was wrong. This was wrong on so many levels. She couldn’t feel guilt over that! It wasn’t her fault at all. And even if she did use magic on him, it was before she even started Hogwarts! It would be classified as accidental magic! Self-defence! 

“It doesn’t matter…” she said. “Anyway, after all that, they tried to put me in another foster home in the area so I can stay in Sutton’s, but I didn’t care about school. I was so sure that your aunt and uncle had lied and that you were still in that house… Your uncle called the cops on me after finding me in the house one night. I told them that they might have killed you but once again they decided to trust them rather than me.”

Harry now knew why. It was those compulsion charms that Dumbledore had put on him. He was hating the man so much right now. Not for what he let happen to him but for what it did to his best friend. 

“After some time, I just… left? I didn’t want to stay in the system. The muggles had proven to be made of as many assholes as the wizarding folks, so I just stay under the cops’ radar and survived somehow. I knew that _if_ your aunt was saying the truth and you just really did go to another school without letting me know then you will be back for the summer holidays. So, I waited, and I went back for our birthday – well, your birthday…”

Harry frowned. He remembered the beginning of his summer between first and second years. He had tried to know more about what had happened to her. But it had gone badly. He had been so lonely back then, mostly because of Dobby, the renegade elf that had tried to kill him. Thinking about that, Harry had no idea of what had happened to him since their encounter in the Hospital Wing after the murdering bludger fiasco… 

“So, I went back to Little Whinging and there was light on Dudley’s second bedroom so I attempted to go up there… but that fucking _elf_ stopped me,” she said with disgust in her voice. “I didn’t expect it to be there… I… _She_ had elves too but I haven’t seen any since… Anyway, it said that you should not have friends, that you made many others, actually… and that you would have a better life there, beaten off by your uncle, than in that bloody school of yours or something. It said that if you see me and I told you that I was magical too, you’ll do something reckless that will get us all killed. That his master was even more reckless and that it would do anything to stop you from going back. I… I hate them, you know, those _elves_. You don’t know what those creatures are capable of. I mean, most of you don’t seem to understand. If they are ordered to hurt you, they will! I know all too well they will… And I… I know if it had been ordered to keep you there, there was nothing that I could do… So, I… I ran away… I left you there… I’m sorry…”

She looked away guiltily. Harry decided that he would never tell her what his Uncle was doing to him probably at the same time she was having that conversation with Dobby. 

Dobby… it was Dobby’s fault if he hadn’t been able to find his best friend back the previous year. If they had been together, they could have run away! They could have gone to London and he would have had access to his Gringotts vault so they could just have lived in the Leaky Cauldron or something. They weren’t even at the part when she got that scar! Harry could have prevented that from happening too! 

“After that… I… I wasn’t really in my right mind. I kind of freaked out, to be honest… And that day I didn’t notice that I was in the wrong part of London. I mean, I was working and there were some areas we were supposed to avoid because some other guys were there and… I was just not paying attention to where I was going… but they noticed and recognized me or something and they had knives and I didn’t at the time and…” She put her hand on her stomach, where the ugly scar was under her robes. “… this happened. It could have been worse. They wanted to do worse. So, I ran away again, but I was tired and sad and hurting and, I tripped on the ground and I thought I was done for…”

She stopped for a second, taking a deep breath.

“But they just ran in front of me without stopping, as if they couldn’t see me. I definitely hadn’t gone invisible though because I could very much see myself and my blood… there was so much blood Har’, it was just…” she shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe it and Dog made a pitiful noise. “Anyway, I couldn’t really trust my luck, so I thought I still need to hide. I was in front of that old London house that looked like every other in that street – only it seemed deserted. There was no light, so I thought that I was lucky, and I broke in… and as soon as I got inside, it felt so familiar… I could never have forgotten that smell…”

Ace went back to hugging her knees. 

“It wasn’t just any house you see… “ she mumbled. “And I thought that Fate was a rightful bitch for forcing me to die in that place…”

“Why? What… whose house was it?” Harry asked. His voice was rough to his own ears. 

Ace eyed him and she looked so sad. 

“I was in Islington Borough when it happened…”

And then, she needed to say no more because Harry understood. 

“The Crazy Old Witch’s…” he whispered.

And she nodded. 

“She wasn’t there though… She died when I ran away all those years ago… I did kill her. Well, at least, that what her _elf_ accused me of. It said that I killed her… but she wasn’t there to order it around anymore you see. So, it couldn’t throw me out or attack me or anything. I told it to stay away from me and it did.”

She seemed bitter when she said that. Harry didn’t know how to react. What to say. 

“As much as I hate that house, it was safe. I knew no one could go there, especially not muggles. I found those rune books that I used to look at when I was a toddler and I used them to try and heal myself. The old man portrait helped a bit. I didn’t get the best result, but I survived… I stay there until I felt better and then I decided that it was as a good hideout as any…”

She sighed again and leaned her forehead against her knees. She seemed exhausted and Harry was furious. This was wrong. How could the place of her nightmares also be her safe space?!! He certainly couldn’t go back to the Dursleys’ house without having an instant panic attack. Even if they weren’t there! He knew he couldn’t do it so how could she?!! 

“Is it where you go back to for Christmas?” he asked. 

She nodded. 

“Hedwig can’t get there. I don’t know why. The owl from Hogwarts with my letter did though. Tee said that magical houses have wards that are designed to protect them. He said that some might be used to refuse letters from unregistered owls and that Hogwarts owls could usually go anywhere because, at one point or another, a student must have lived there. I’m sorry that it freaked you out when Hedwig couldn’t find me though… It wasn’t intentional.”

How could she worry about that? Harry didn’t know. She went through so much and… And she deserved a hug! So, he forced the giant beast to move away and he gave her one. She tried to object but he didn’t let her. He just tightened his grip until she let herself go and leaned her head against the base of his neck. 

“I don’t want you to go back there…” he said in her ear. 

She nodded against him. 

“I’m not sure it’s that safe anymore anyway,” she said. “Tee said that the Crazy Old Witch’s family could probably get in if they ever want to… I don’t want them to find me. They would probably want to avenge her death.”

He wasn’t thinking about that, but it was obviously another reason for her to never put a foot in that freaking house again. He would ask Professor Lupin again. He just wished the man would agree and accept his money already. 

Hours later, after the rain had subdued and Dog had gone back to the Forest, Harry and Ace stopped in a deserted corridor near the dungeons, safely hidden under the Invisibility Cloak. It was almost midnight and way past curfew. 

“You should go,” Ace mumbled.

But she was stroking her arm nervously and Harry wasn’t ready to let her go just yet. She didn’t step away from him either.

“Are you going to bed?” he asked. 

She hesitated but shook her head. 

“Ok, then I’ll stay with you,” Harry decided. 

She arched an eyebrow. 

“You can’t go to my Common Room, let alone in my dorm. Greengrass would have a fit… She’s all about purity and no sex before marriage or something…”

“I don’t plan to have sex with you!” Harry scoffed defensively. 

But his reaction only produced a smirk on his friends’ face. She was messing with him again and Harry would have complained if he still had enough energy for that. He didn’t know where they could go… The Headquarter was off limit as a teacher could barge in at any time…

“There is a place I’ve been trying to find for a long time… Maybe we can go there.”

“Where is it?”

“Somewhere on the 7th floor. Supposedly near a tapestry of trolls dancing or something…”

Harry frowned. Trolls dancing…

“The tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls ballet? I know where it is,” he told her. “But there is no room there…”

“No room that you know of!” she said with a smile. “But the old man in the painting has not been lying so far. Let’s go there!” 

Failing to find a good reason to refuse, Harry led them where the tapestry was. He hadn’t gone to that corridor often, but he remembered Neville making a joke about that tapestry the previous year… It still took them almost thirty minutes to go there from the dungeons while trying to keep them both under the Cloak. 

He was feeling the exhaustion of the Calming Draught wearing off completely. And he was starting to regret that he had left the Marauders’ Map with Neville when they finally arrived at the 7th floor. 

“What now?” he asked while repressing a yawn and looking at the tapestry. 

Ace was looking at the opposite wall. 

“Now, look,” she said. 

She walked out of the Invisibility Cloak and started pacing. Harry was wondering if she had finally gotten crazy when a wooden door appeared on the wall. 

“Wh-…”

Ace was already opening the door. When she looked back at him, her eyes were shining with excitement. 

“Magic!” she said with a grin. “Come!”

“What is this place?” Harry asked. 

He jolted when, just after he entered, the door disappeared behind him. 

“It’s okay, I just wished it so no one else could enter. It should be safe now,” Ace explained. 

Harry looked around him. The room could look like a very small common room. There was a large couch, a fireplace, and warm carpet on the floor and tapestries on the walls. It was cosy but not oppressing. He jolted again when a small door appeared on one of the walls. 

“Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom,” Ace said. “Go ahead, make yourself comfortable.”

She disappeared into the new room and Harry looked around again. It made no sense! Were they planning to stay there?? Ace didn’t seem like she was planning to go back to her dorm… Were that pyjamas on that chair?? If Harry stayed there, he should inform Neville because he was pretty sure that this room wasn’t showing up in the Map… He had never seen it before!

Just as that thought came to his mind, a desk appeared – on it was writing supplies and a small box with Gryffindor Crest. ‘_3rd Year boy dorm_’ was carved on the box. 

Harry frowned. No sense at all… Yet, the finality of that device appeared clearly in his mind. 

He grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled a quick note before folding it and writing Neville’s name on the back. He then placed the piece of paper in the box. The box flashed and the letter disappeared. 

Magic made no sense… he sighed internally. Or was it the fact that he was trusting that unexplained piece of magic that made no sense? 

“Having fun?” Ace’s voice asked in his back. 

“What is this place? How do you know about it?” he asked turning to face her. 

She was back in her Slytherin hoodie with a pyjama bottom on. 

“It’s called the Room of Requirement. It can provide you with whatever you want as long as it is available in the Castle and except for some things like living beings or food… The point is it could even be used to leave the Castle!” she said excitingly. 

Harry frowned. 

“I don’t plan on leaving the Castle. And I won’t let you do it either…” he groaned. 

She scoffed and crashed on the couch. 

“I know. I don’t intend to do it tonight anyway…”

Harry shook his head and decided not to argue. He was starting to feel really tired. 

At that thought, the couch grew larger and additional pillows and a comforter appeared on its side. 

Ace raised an eyebrow.

“Tired?” she asked.

“Yeah…” Harry sighed sitting next to her. “How do you know about this place?”

She shrugged and looked away. “There was this portrait in that house… I remembered the old man in it from… _before_.”

Harry nodded. So, before she first ran away from it, back when she was a toddler. 

“When the muggles took me, I started to think that I had been hallucinating. He was quite nice to me back then, you see? Well, according to whatever standards that bitch had put in my brain… But he couldn’t hurt me from the painting and he often talked to me. When I went back, he wasn’t there at first, but he showed up eventually. Then he told me all about this school and its secrets… He was also the one who told me about the runes and what book to read and all.”

She hugged her knees and looked pensively to the fire. 

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to come here at first, because I was scared, I could get trapped here. That’s when he told me about this room, told me that I could go out to almost anywhere from here, I would just have to find the room first,” she sighed. “I haven’t expected that it would be so bloody difficult! But now I know that whatever happens, I have a way out.”

Harry pinched his lips but didn’t argue. It was killing him that she was always thinking first about how she could escape a place if something went wrong but he also understood where she was coming from. He would probably have been as relieved as she was if she had shown him this room one year ago… But he was in a better place now. 

“Do you know his name? Of that man? He seems important if he has his portrait. If he can disappear from it, it probably means that he has at least two of them… It’s pretty rare according to Mr Diggory.”

Ace tensed slightly and Harry missed it as he was yawning again. 

“It doesn’t matter who he is. He’s just a portrait and the real man is probably long dead anyway. I don’t want to find him or find anyone related to that house!”

Harry nodded but his head was already on a pillow and he was fighting to keep his eyes open.

“Can you promise me you won’t look for them either, Har’?” She asked while looking at him. Her pleading silver eyes pierced directly to his heart. 

“How can I say no to you?” he mumbled aloud. 

She gave him a small relieved smile in return. 

“Good! Because as far as I’m concern, you’re my family and I don’t need anyone else for that role!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there!  
This chapter took me forever to edit... I ended up dividing it into two chapters and adding two scenes because I felt like the pacing was off... I don't know how I feel about the result though. That's why I really need your thoughts!!! With this new editing, Hermione's punishment is push back to the next chapter but I'll try not to keep you waiting for too long!


	14. Chapter 14

After that eventful evening, the girl had seemed grouchy for a few days. Even if Harry told him that her mood had certainly more to do with the fact that he forced her to go to Madam Pomfrey than what had happened with Granger, the result was the same for Draco: he didn’t know how to resume his discussion on AIDS with her without sounding inconsiderate.

That evening had been hard enough on Draco. Neville had informed him that Harry had slept out and Astoria had confirmed that she hadn’t seen Ace all night either. Of course, she was just a First Year and they were best friends, so nothing probably happened… Yet! She wasn’t any First Year. She seemed far too confident about sex-related topics. AND! They were best friends… Draco had read far too many stories about best friends to lovers for his own good… 

So maybe, telling Cedric Diggory about Harry’s panic attack was not only an act of concern for his friends… Maybe he had thought that Harry needed to talk his feelings off with his mind healer… Just so… Just so what? He had no idea! That’s why he needed to speak to the girl more thoughtfully. But he couldn’t right now. 

Harry had dragged Ace to the Hospital Wing just before their joint Potion Class. He appeared just before the class started in a very fool mood of his own. Draco was pairing with him while Neville was sharing a table with his girlfriend. 

No one was there to stop Draco’s morbid curiosity… Draco loved Neville, but he was sometimes overly considerate. And because of him, he rarely asked Harry whatever he had in mind and they were going nowhere! Draco had already taken upon himself enough by not harassing Harry on the reason behind his latest panic attack or on the fact that he hadn’t slept in his dorm two days ago. 

“What is it?” he whispered while stirring their Wideye potion. 

Harry looked at him and seemed both sad and very tired. 

“Nothing… It’s just what Pomfrey said… It… I can’t get it out of my head…” he answered softly as he was presenting a new measure of their crushed ingredient to the cauldron. 

“Want to talk about it?” Draco offered. 

Harry shrugged, mimicking how his best friend usually answered most questions addressing to her. He should probably give them a book on pureblood etiquette very soon.

“Nothing much to say… She just confirmed that Ace’s oldest scars were magically induced, some of them still have traces of minor curses and… Well, her epilepsy developed as an aftermath of the Cruciatus,” he sent a quick glance at Neville while saying it as if to check that he wasn’t listening. That curse was a sensitive subject for him after all. Harry sighed softly. “It’s nothing we didn’t know already but hearing it for sure is just… It’s a lot.”

Draco nodded. 

“I get what you mean… I talked a bit about it to my parents, you know. But when I mentioned the use of that curse for children discipline, they got weird. My father mentioned that it had been used on a 12-year-old before and my mother forced him to keep quiet… So, I think they know it can happen and that they know someone who suffered that. I don’t think it was either of them though… But knowing that it wasn’t a completely foreign and absurd idea for them was a bit… unsettling.” He grimaced.

“Sometimes I feel like we have seen too much to be kids anymore…” Harry mumbled. “Then I guess it’s just part of growing up.”

“Maybe…” Draco nodded. “We’re almost 14 after all! Hardly kids anymore!”

“Malfoy, I assure you, I will very much treat you like a toddler if you keep chattering instead of focusing on your potion,” came Severus’s draining voice behind them. “5 points from Gryffindor, Potter. Now, focus!”

Harry growled next to Draco and added the last serving of ingredients in the cauldron. Draco gave him a sheepish smile. Maybe they could talk some more later. 

After the lesson, Harry told Neville and him that he thought that Ace could use a mindhealer, but he had given up trying to convince her. He didn’t tell them about the details of what his evening with her had been like, but Draco got that they talked about her time in the street... 

At the very least, Harry didn’t seem to feel any embarrassment about that night. So, nothing physical probably happened. That was a relief for Draco, even if he could have done with more information. 

As always, Harry was respecting his friend’s privacy and, on that point, Draco couldn’t pester him because he hoped that meant that Ace hadn’t mentioned their conversation to Harry either. If she did, Harry never mentioned it to him! 

Then Harry told them about that magical room on the 7th floor, and the subject got away from their personal lives for good.

On the next Saturday, Gryffindor was meeting Ravenclaw on the Quidditch Pitch. Draco was on his way there – hiding a red and gold scarf under his coat – when he glanced the tall figure of his father stepping out the Board meeting room. 

“Father!” he called. 

The man looked at him and nodded slightly before getting back at whatever discussion he was having with another Board member. 

“Go ahead, I’ll catch you up,” Draco told Neville. He then waited for his father to finish. 

McGonagall and Dumbledore got out of the room, followed by Granger. The girl’s head was low, but Draco could have a glimpse at her reddened eyes and flustered face through her bushy hair. She had been crying. The two adults seemed pissed too. 

Draco’s father shook a man’s hand and finally turned to Draco. 

“Good morning, son.”

“Likewise, Father. Were you here for Granger’s disciplinary hearing?”

“I was,” the man nodded. “Thank you for your letter. Severus informed me too, of course. But it seems like Headmaster Dumbledore had still tried to sweep the Gryffindor dust under the carpet. It could have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for you two and the determination of your Headboy. A Weasley, I assume?”

Draco nodded. “Percival Weasley. Harry thinks highly of him. You might see him in the Ministry next year. So, how did it go?”

“I’m not supposed to discuss other students’ personal information with you…” Lucius started with a smirk. “But if this school’s gossip network is still as efficient as in my time, you will know about the outcome of this meeting before lunch. So, I guess there is no harm in telling you now. Miss Granger was sentenced with one week of suspension and a warning on her file. She would also need to drop two electives as she clearly wasn’t mature enough to manage the stress occasioned by her workload.”

Draco was surprised by the harshness of the punishment. A warning meant that Granger could no longer be named as prefect, Quidditch captain or Headgirl during her time in the school unless it was being held by exemplary behaviour. With what he knew about her, it must have been really hard on her. 

“W-why?” he asked. “I mean, I don’t think she doesn’t deserve it, but it seems a bit… extreme? Especially when her victim is a Slytherin no-one…” – meaning that Ace wasn’t from a well-known family who could have forced that punishment on a muggleborn. Draco knew for sure that Harry – as protective as he was – didn’t know how to use his influence to get that kind of results – yet. 

“Oh, the harassment wasn’t the main charge against the girl, I’m afraid,” his father answered. “She lost a very valuable item that the Ministry graciously lend to the school. If you ask me, it was a mistake that this artefact was entrusted to her in the first place as it was a clear act of favouritism and as the Board hadn’t been consulted about it beforehand this summer as it should have been… The incident with that Slytherin girl was only aggravating circumstances. I get that you know her? The name remained concealed during the meeting.”

“Yes. It’s June Islington, Harry’s childhood friend – the one I asked you to look for last year?”

Lucius nodded. “That what I guessed but I didn’t have time to confirm it with Severus yet. You’re close with the girl now, I assume?”

“Not really… I mean, we spend some time together, but she mostly hangs around for Harry… I guess it still makes me one of her closest relations in the school though… She doesn’t really _blend in_…”

“That’s what I guessed from Severus’s incessant grumbling about her. She seems quite unsettling, no doubt about it. I would love to meet her properly.”

“If you stay for the Quidditch match, I could introduce you,” Draco offered. “It’s Ravenclaw-Gryffindor but Ravenclaw doesn’t stand a chance against Harry’s Firebolt!”

“I’m afraid I don’t have time to stay today but I will make sure to be there for your next match. Do you think _you_ stand a chance against Potter’s Firebolt? I may be able to squeeze in another meeting that morning,” the man smirked, and Draco fought the need to pout like a 5-year-old. 

“It would certainly help if my parents kindly agree to give me a new broom of the same calibre as an early birthday present before that match…” he said casually. 

“Sadly, I don’t think it’s on their plans… I guess you would just have to compensate with talent and the hours of training you, without a doubt, very diligently follow,” Lucius answered in the same tone. He smiled as Draco sneered. “Anyway, I should get going. If you see the girl, please tell her to be careful… As far as I’m relieved that you are no longer Dumbledore’s primary target when it comes to Potter’s unwanted relationships; I’m afraid about how bad it could get for her if she doesn’t have strong enough allies around her…”

“What makes you think that Dumbledore is after her?” Draco asked, serious again. 

“Severus’s reports and the fact that Granger very much admitted that Dumbledore had asked her to use her privileges to dig out pieces of information about the girl’s doing.”

Draco immediately thought back about all those times Harry had told them that he was suspecting Granger of stalking Ace. Draco had put it on his overprotective self, but it was true after all?? He would have to tell him later! 

His father seemed ready to go but also hesitant as his son was still standing before him. 

“I should go too, the match is about to start,” Draco told him. “But don’t worry too much about Islington, she has strong allies: Harry Potter is her best friend, her closest friend in Slytherin is Theodore Nott Jr., I have personally declared that anyone going after her was going after the House Malfoy at the beginning of the school year and she’s sharing a dorm with Astoria Greengrass – and whatever Islington says, Astoria seems to be quite fond of her.”

Lucius nodded approvingly. 

“Before you go,” Draco started before looking around. The corridor was now almost deserted, but one was never cautious enough. “Could you cast a privacy charm please?”

Lucius frowned but did as told. 

“If – _and that’s a bit ‘if’_ – I knew who took Granger’s valuable Ministry item… What do you suggest I do about it?”

His father’s eyes widened slightly but he didn’t ask the most obvious question. 

“Did that person steal it to use it for their personal needs or on someone else’s order?”

“I don’t think they know what it is but have access to sources of information that could probably help them with that… I think they mostly did it on a whim…”

“Could you get a hand on that item?”

“Not without raising suspicions, no. But knowing that person, they could decide to sell it at the highest bidder if it was suggested to them…”

Lucius nodded. 

“If this happens, send me an owl. I could be interested. In the meantime, let’s just pretend you don’t know anything and hope that person doesn’t get caught. The Unspeakables are a bit intransigent on the matter. However, Severus insisted that a search in his House without concrete proof would be taken as a violation of his students’ privacy. He then kindly reminded the Headmaster that many of his students’ parents were members of the Wizengamot or have high positions in the Ministry…”

“So… no search?” Draco guessed. 

His father smiled pleasantly.

“I will keep my ears and my eyes open then,” Draco told him. “I have some other subjects to talk about with the person I suspect anyway. I could use it as an excuse to get to know more about their intentions regarding that item…”

Lucius nodded approvingly and Draco nodded back. They stayed silent, staring at each other for a few seconds. Draco indicated that it was all he wanted to tell him about. The man cancelled the privacy charm and put a heavy hand on Draco’s shoulder. 

“Enjoy your day, Son. And please write to your mother. I’m sure she is eager to know all about Potter’s firebolt wonders.”

Draco smirked and nodded at his father. He waited for the man to disappear in the next corridor and ran to the Quidditch Pitch. He was late and if Harry was as good as he thought him to be, the match could be over before he even set a foot in the pitch!

*

As the end of March approached, Harry noticed how Draco and Ace seemed to be talking more naturally to each other. He got them whispering to each other in their Headquarters a few times and Ace even went so far as to give Draco what looked like muggle magazines last week. 

Draco told him that it was for a Muggle Studies essay, but Neville didn’t seem like he was understanding what he was talking about. One thing for sure, whatever that topic was, both Draco and Ace were very careful not to talk about it while other people were around. Every time Harry had tried to join their discussion Ace would tease him senselessly, so he just gave up… 

Ace seemed to be doing a bit better since the incident with Hermione. Their talk seemed to have liberated her. Yet, she was still refusing to see a mindhealer. 

Harry had told Daisy about Ace’s story – after having her promised that everything that he was going to say would stay strictly between us. He wanted to know what he could do and how he could help Ace out of her guilt regarding the abuse she suffered along the years. 

As expected, Daisy told him that he couldn’t force Ace to talk to her, but it didn’t mean he could not help her in his own way. For now, Daisy just asked him not to push it, to listen to Ace and not to try and change her version of the story. The most important thing was that Ace had someone to talk to and that she knew that Harry believed her. With time, as she would grow older, it might get easier for her to talk to other people but for now, Harry just had to make sure that she wasn’t alone. 

That discussion made Harry wondered if Ace had talked to Nott too. The boy seemed to be far closer to her lately. The Slytherin was helping her with her Transfiguration and Harry got the opportunity to meet him a few times in the library. He was patient and managed to explain some concept better than Harry could have… But still! Him being decent didn’t mean Harry would just accept that Ace went to him first before even asking Harry if he could help! 

What if the Slytherin had other motives? Slytherin usually had other motives! And if Neville and Draco could stop making fun of him because he was acting like a jealous prick, it would help! He wasn’t jealous! He was just worried! Ace had already been through so much in her life…

Speaking of Slytherins, Harry didn’t know what spell they used, but from the moment Hermione set a foot back in school and every time she would just look in Ace’s way, the girl’s top robe would start falling from her shoulders, her shoes would unlace, her bag would fall open on the floor or things like that. 

It was nothing serious, but it kept happening and happening. No one ever helped her picking up her belongings. She would get late to classes which had never happened before. She would get cut off by some teachers telling her to concentrate on her work instead of those of others. 

Harry got her crying once in the Common Room, but he realized that he didn’t even feel sorry for her. Ans even if some part of him thought about making sure Ron had her back, he did nothing about it. She got what she deserved. 

Draco had told him all about how the disciplinary hearing went and how the assault wasn’t even the main reason for her suspension. 

Harry had lost any remaining respect for McGonagall when Percy told him that she had been protecting Hermione the whole time. From the moment Hermione had said that Dumbledore himself had asked her to watch Ace, the whole hearing had turned on him. Dumbledore pretended that he had asked Hermione to look after Ace because ‘_a muggleborn in Slytherin needs allies_’. Everyone knew that that argument was bullshit. 

What was so wrong with this school that the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress were using students to spy on other students??? Especially when the student who was spied on was clearly struggling with her life and needed to be protected instead of being treated like a menace!

It was now April and Easter holidays were just a few days away. Harry was having his last Patronus lesson before the holidays. There had been no more sign of Black since Halloween but the Dementors were still hovering around the Castle ground. 

Lupin was looking a bit sick that day – like he usually did at this time of the month. Harry was having a hot chocolate break after facing the boggart-dementor for the tenth time that day. They had talked about his classes and about how Ace was using the Room of Requirement to _borrow_ vinyl records from the man. Far from being angry, Lupin was finding this hilarious…

They had been quiet for some time now. Lupin still had that soft smile on his face. It was the one he often wore when he was talking about Ace. Harry decided that it was a good time as any to bring back that topic on the table. 

“Professor? May I ask you if you thought about what I asked you, back in February? About fostering June Islington during the summer…” Harry asked without looking at the man. 

He felt the man tensing a little next to him. 

“I have, indeed,” he answered. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come back to you sooner. Sirius Black’s trial had pushed many things at the back of my head these past few weeks.” 

“Draco told me that the sentence would be pronounced today…” Harry nodded – with that, his own custody trial could start again during the summer.

Lupin grimaced slightly at the reminder. “About June, I talked to Professor Snape about it and apparently, June’s case had not been opened at the Ministry so you don’t need to worry about her _birth_ family – or child molesters – knowing about her…” He then sighed. “I would gladly offer to foster her, Harry…”

Harry could hear the ‘_but_’ coming, so he hurriedly stopped him. “If it’s because of the money, I can…”

“It’s not about the money,” Lupin said. “I would offer her a place to stay even without your money, Harry. The problem is my medical condition doesn’t make me suitable for looking after a child…”

“Your medical condition is only an issue once a month,” Harry argued. “And I’m sure I can convince Ace to come to see me at the Diggorys’ during those days if you think she can’t stay alone for the night.”

Lupin looked at him in shock. Harry had never told him that he knew about his secret in the end. But if that was the excuse the man was giving to deny his best friend a safe place, it was just stupid. 

“I have known since Professor Snape gave us that assignment back in November,” he answered Lupin’s unspoken question. “I don’t care. I could pay for the wolfsbane potion if you want. Or asked my friends… I mean, I’m sure Professor Snape can brew it if Lucius Malfoy asks him personally…”

“Harry…”

“Please Professor. I don’t want her to be alone, she won’t go with me because she doesn’t trust the family I live with and I can’t let her go back to that _place_…” Harry insisted. “You’re the only person that I can convince her to go with!”

Lupin stared at him and Harry looked right back. His amber eyes were shining something feral, but he didn’t mind. Ace was going to be ok if he could convince the man to take her with him. He could be stubborn! He knew he could make that man agree if he really wanted to! His parents would certainly have wanted him to agree!

He didn’t need to use that guilt trip argument though. 

“Ok. But, please let me just organize with Professor Snape before launching his friends at him to force his hand,” the professor sighed. 

“Really???!!” Harry exclaimed. 

“Really. You’re as stubborn as your father, you know that?”

Harry smiled brightly. That was just brilliant. He then felt his bracelet warming up lightly on his wrist and looked at it. 

‘_Where U?_’ was written in the silver charm. 

He smiled, took his wand, and whispered: “DADA room.” He was overly excited, and Lupin seemed amused when he looked up at him. 

“Ace’s coming,” he informed the man. “I might have to tell her first so don’t mention it! Thank you so much, Professor! Come on, I want to try against the dementor one more time before she gets here! I think I just made the most perfect happy memory!!”

“Who am I to stop you then,” Lupin smiled softly waiting for him to be in position before charming the old trunk to open. 

The boggart-dementor got out, as it always did. Harry was ready. Those simple words of acceptance on his mind. 

“_Expecto Patronum!_” he yelled. 

The silver smog got out of his wand and seemed more dense than usual, there was a form there!!! An animal. It was massive! Its paws were at least 15 or 20 cm large. Its head was as high as Harry’s shoulders. Furry silver ears focused on the dementor in front of it. 

Then, the door opened. 

“Har’! You know what?!! Curt Cobain is…dead,” Ace’s excited voice died down when she noticed the creatures in the room. 

Her eyes went from the Patronus to the dementor. 

Then the boggart-dementor turned her way and morphed into something else. A tall, aristocratic-looking woman appeared. Her pitch-black hair was ribbed with white strands and tied in a crinkle bun. She was wearing expansive looking black witch robes. It looked like something Draco’s mother could wear. 

The realisation of who that woman could be twisted Harry’s guts and his Patronus vanished. He couldn’t get his eyes off her. 

Her eyes were as grey as Ace’s and already sending daggers.

Ace let go of the magazine she was holding then fell to the ground – unable to move. She was staring at the woman with utter terror. 

“YOU! Such a disgusting waste of space! You thought that you could run away from me?!! You thought that you could just leave? You despicable failure. I can’t wait for the day I’ll kill you and bring back my son…”

The woman’s voice was as cold as her look. When Harry looked at her, he realized that Ace was not only frozen in place, she had also stopped breathing. She just kept staring wide eyes. Her chest wasn’t rising anymore. Harry had to do something! 

“Disgusting disgrace… You’re useless, as ever. How many times should I teach you what I’ll do with garbage lying on the floor?” the woman raised her wand pointing it at Ace. 

No! Harry started running to intercept the curse. 

“CRUCIO!” 


	15. Chapter 15

That year had been nothing like what Remus had imagined. 

Of course, he hadn’t imagined much when Dumbledore had reached out for him the previous summer after Sirius’s escape. Maybe personally confronting and killing his former best friend and lover in an act of both desperate and dramatic heroism had been one of his fantasies? However, even that scenario had been just that, a fantasy, rather than a wish for fulfilment in his mind. 

Then he had met Harry on the train and June shortly after. 

Even if Harry looked much like James, he definitely took his personality out of Lily’s. He was brave, of course, but not foolishly. He was all about protecting and defending his friends when James had been a privileged show off during most of his school years. Harry had both fame, talent, and willingness, but he wasn’t brushing it off in everyone’s face. Remus loved James, but there was something else about Harry. Something his own best friend would have never been able to match. 

Then there was June Islington. 

Remus had developed an instant liking to the girl. His wolf had been very much inclined to force him to defend her since the first day they met. The girl got a seizure on the train after her first meeting with a dementor. She was wearing slightly oversized and out of date Slytherin school robes despite being a yet-to-be-sorted first year. Remus was relating all too much. His first-year robes had been the only one that his parents had insisted to buy new, all his other had been secondhanded… 

The girl was like a wild animal. Remus felt like he was taming her during their first months together, but he could never be so sure of how trusting the girl was of him. She was behaving ok, curious, and mischievous as long as he didn’t ask her about her past or current living situation. Music was her guilty pleasure and Remus was glad that he had taken his collection of old records with him otherwise he wasn’t sure he could have spent half much time with the girl - he tried not to think too much about the fact that most of them had originally been Sirius’s though. 

Remus’s year had taken a new turn after Christmas when he had found his late friend Peter Pettigrew in his office, very much alive. It took him weeks before finally deciding to trust his old friend’s story.

Remus knew that Harry’s custody trial couldn’t go on as long as Sirius’s trial was on stand-by, so he had asked Snape how to get it started again without waiting for the fugitive’s capture. Dumbledore had proven that children’s well-being was not his first priority once again when he refused to help June Islington to find a stable and safe home – supposedly because the 12-year-old girl could be a Dark wizard in disguise or at least their target so she could be used as bait – and Remus couldn’t forgive his negligence anymore. 

The man disgusted him. He thought back on all those times he had asked to meet Harry along the years. The headmaster had always refused, arguing that Harry should get a _normal_ childhood away from the fuss of the Wizarding World. Remus hated himself for having accepted that explanation and not insisting more. If he had, if he had just not listened to the senile old man, maybe he could have taken Harry away from his abusive family sooner! 

He would never be able to forgive himself for letting something like this happen to his best friends’ son. 

Remus remembered when Augusta Longbottom had reached out for him back during Harry’s first year. Her grandson wanted to make a photo-album of the Potters as a Christmas present for Harry. Remus had immediately answered with dozens of pictures. He took time to take out Sirius – scarifying his own presence from most of them. He had told Neville that he would gladly send more and provide any information about the Potters’ life if Harry ever asked for it. Harry never wrote back though… And Remus accepted it, the boy was certainly too busy with his friends to bore himself with a sad old man like him. 

There again, if Remus had insisted, if he had thought more deeply about it and realized that it was strange that Harry didn’t have any pictures about his parents until one of his school mates gifted him with some at 11, then Harry could have been rescued sooner. This time, Remus couldn’t even blame Dumbledore. 

He was at fault and because of that guilt, he couldn’t turn down Harry’s request. 

Harry was all about protecting his friends and one of his friends needed a home for the holidays. How could Remus turn down something like that when he knew that no one else would manage to convince the girl to stay with them? When he knew that Dumbledore would stop them from involving the Ministry! And Harry very much implied that he knew about Remus’s furry little problem and didn’t mind. Just as his parents hadn’t mind when they were his age. 

Remus would have given all the gold of Gringotts to see that relieved smile on the young Gryffindor’s face when he finally agreed to help. The Defence Professor knew that this was the memory that Harry used to create a corporal patronus a few minutes after that. Well, it wasn’t fully corporal and still a bit blurry but it was still an amazing result for a 13-year-old and this piece of magic would certainly get him an O in his O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. if he performed it in a few years. 

The patronus looked like a large species of canine – could this be a wolf? It was certainly larger than an average wolf though – but Remus didn’t have time to study it more closely because June had just barged in the room at that moment. The boggart changed focus and transformed in a mature clearly pure-blood aristocratic witch who started insulting the poor girl. June was tetanized and watching her nightmare right in front of her. Then the boggart took out a wand and Harry ran to his friend to protect her from the spell. 

“_CRUCIO_!” the boggart yelled. 

However, Remus forced it to face him and to turn into the moon before casting a _riddikulus_ and sending it back to its trunk. 

“Ace! Ace, do you hear me???”

Remus looked back at the two children on the ground. He knew the spell hadn’t it – or rather couldn’t. 

June’s eyes were fixed on the trunk, she was still terrorized and started shaking violently. Harry immediately place her on her side and moved so she could use his knees as a cushion for her head. He cast a tempus charm and Remus wondered what he was doing. Harry was very careful about not obstructing June’s convulsive movements. As if it was not the first time this kind of thing was happening in front of him. The seizure stopped and Harry cast another tempus, it has been less than a minute long 

Remus went to kneel next to them, but he didn’t dare touch the girl. Harry dissuaded him with a sharp shake of the head. Remus performed a diagnostic spell. June seemed physically ok. He should probably get Poppy though…

“Hey, Ace, are you awake? Do you hear me?” Harry asked softly. 

The girl’s breath was erratic. She opened her eyes and stared at the trunk again. 

“Sh… she…”

“It wasn’t her… It’s just a boggart,” Remus explained.

“We need to leave!” the girl said without listening to him. 

“No, she isn’t there. It wasn’t her,” Harry repeated.

“It was her! We need to leave!!!”

“Ace, think! She can’t be there. You told me she was dead…”

Remus frowned and looked up to Harry. So, he knew about that woman?

“But she was here!” June insisted.

“Here, take this,” Harry said while taking a small vial from his pocket. “It’s a Calming Draught, it will help you calm down… You had a pretty bad seizure… I promise you; it wasn’t her.”

“But Har’, she… We need to leave!!! She was HERE!”

“She wasn’t. Please, listen to me. You know she’s dead. You killed her years ago, remember? Her elf confirmed that you did. I asked Draco. Elves cannot lie about the death of their masters. She is dead and her house had been deserted for ages. Nobody is after you for this. You’re safe! But you need to calm down. Now, drink this.”

“What do you mean? What house? June, you know the identity of that woman?” Remus asked and immediately realized that he shouldn’t have. 

The girl’s terrified eyes turned to him as if she was just realizing that he was here. Panic rose even higher in her eyes and she tried to move as far away from him as possible. Harry caught her in his arms, stopping her. 

“No! No! NO! You can’t know! Let me go Har’! I don’t want to go to Azkaban! Har’, I can’t go to Azkaban! There’re dementors there! Har’! I can’t! I’d rather die than…”

Harry tightened his grip on her arms and laid his forehead on her shoulder. 

“You won’t go there. Professor Lupin won’t tell. There’s no evidence anyway and it was self-defence. You were only 5. There’s no way you go to Azkaban because of that… Can you please drink this potion now?”

“No! You don’t know that! She… If he tells, I…”

“He won’t tell,” Harry assured looking up to Remus with pleading eyes. 

“I… Harry, I cannot…” Remus tried to argue. 

“See! He will!!” June freaked out. “We need to leave Har’, now! I know how to hide… my runes, they… they won’t find us if we leave now!”

“No,” Harry said firmly. “Professor Lupin will swear on his magic that he won’t tell anyone about what just happened.”

Remus couldn’t do that. He couldn’t just pretend nothing just happened. The girl needed help and to bring her some, he would need to talk! 

“Harry,” he tried again. “I’m not sure…”

“You will,” Harry cut him. “Or I’ll tell the whole school that you’re a werewolf and that you tried to turn me.”

That menace froze Remus’s blood. Harry seemed so determined. There was no hint of hesitation in his emerald eyes. He was holding his friend protectively against his chest, the blue vial of Calming Draught in hand. Even if it was an empty threat, Remus knew that if he didn’t comply, the boy would never forgive him. 

He could find other ways to help her. Other ways to tell. Maybe he could convince one of them to talk to someone about it… That was a mission for later. He took out his wand.

“I solemnly swear on my magic that I won’t talk about June Islington’s boggart and what I learned about her past this evening to anyone who doesn’t already know about it without the direct authorization from Harry James Potter or June Islington, so mote it be,” he announced and a red sparkled appeared at the tip of his wand, proving that magic had accepted his promise. 

Harry only nodded. 

“See, he can’t tell. Now, drink this,” the boy told his friend and she eventually complied. 

Her panic calmed down gradually letting place to tears. Harry hold her without a word. 

“Can you leave us, please?” he asked Remus in a whisper. 

Remus could have refused. He could have argued that he wasn’t comfortable with leaving them alone in that state. Yet, he was pretty useless. Neither of them needed him. He remembered all too well when he was their age and would seek the comfort of his friends rather than any adult. 

He got up and, as he was closing the door behind him, he caught Harry’s calming whispers. 

“It’s okay… He won’t tell. He was my parents’ friend, he owes me…”

Remus swallowed something very sour as he walked to his apartments. As soon as he was in his quarters, he crashed on his bed. 

Harry’s words or the menace he gave him weren’t the worst part. Remus knew he only did it to protect his friend. No, what was truly upsetting him about this event was the realization that neither of those kids even remotely trusted him despite all the months they had spent together. He knew that he should put that on the environment they grew up in, that it was not because of anything he did or didn’t do. The girl was having a panic attack for Merlin’s sake! How could he blame her? Yet, he couldn’t get away from that painful feeling. 

Remus was feeling sick and staying on his bed moping was as a good way as any to finish his afternoon. 

He couldn’t help but think back on the last time he had taken this kind of vow. It was in March ’81 and Sirius had been missing for a little more than a month. He had disappeared during February’s full moon. He hadn’t been there when Remus had turned back. It had never happened before. Nobody had heard from him since. And a new moon had come and go. 

That week, James had voiced what Remus had started to fear… What if Moony had killed him? 

Of course, James had been drunk and he had immediately apologized when he had seen Remus’s face after the words were pronounced aloud. But it had been a week and another full moon. And no, Remus couldn’t forget about it. 

Alcohol was not the answer, but it was helping… However, it required load of it to inebriate a wolf… 

That was the state in which Sirius’s brother had found him. The man – who was still just a boy at the time – had looked like a ghost. Drench and half-dead. Holding an ancient elf’s hand. Remus still questioned the reality of that encounter today. 

Regulus had been looking for Sirius. When Remus told him that he was missing and probably dead, Regulus had yelled at him. It was unrealistic. The boy was like a living corpse. He didn’t need much more to pass for an inferius. Yet, he yelled at Remus for being so stupid. And then he yelled at the elf.

“Mistress has asked Kreacher to fetch him…” the elf had muttered. 

Regulus had looked up at Remus. Remus remembered thinking that he had never seen Sirius’s eyes looking so desperate. 

“I will bring him back,” the boy said with determination. “I… I need you to swear on your magic and your soul that you will tell no one that I was here.”

Remus had sworn because he was convinced that it was just his mind playing games on him. Then Regulus had told him to tell something to Sirius, but Remus had never managed to remember what this was… Regulus had disappeared again, and Remus had finished his second bottle of firewhiskey. 

The next day, Sirius had appeared on their front door while looking like he had just escaped hell. It was the worse sober-up event Remus had experienced in his whole life. 

Later, Sirius had told him that Regulus Black had been dead for weeks and that his mother had requested him home for the memorial service. Remus made a promise to himself to never drink so much again. 

Remus was now fathering the idea of taking those words back.

But he didn’t have alcohol in his Hogwarts quarter… Maybe he could go to Severus? But he didn’t want to explain to the man… Or he could ask the elves? They would certainly be easier to bribe now that he was a professor and no longer an underage student. But Dumbledore would know…

He was still pondering how to procure himself with a large dose of firewhiskey when sometimes later – which might as well be hours – his floo roared in the other room and Remus had to force himself to open an eye again. 

“Moony, you’re there? It’s done, they are voting right now but I wasn’t allowed to stay for it… I think we’ll know the result tomorrow in the Prophet!” his friend said while entering his bedroom. “Is everything alright?” he then asked concerned. 

Remus sighed. “Yeah, it’s just…” His magic started stinging him and forced him to stop. He guessed that this will happened often in the next few days if he wasn’t careful. “… the moon,” he said instead of talking about Harry or June or anything that had happened that afternoon. 

“It’s tonight, right? Has Snape come over yet?”

Remus shook his head. It wasn’t surprising, they still had plenty of time before the moon rose anyway. 

“I talked with Madam Bones. She gave me an official certificate and taught me the detecting spell. If we manage to get Sirius, this could be used to confirm that he’s acting on his own or not…”

“We still have to find him though… he hasn’t made a move since Halloween.”

“Well, there was the lead at Knockturn during Christmas,” the other argued. “But you’re right we can’t know if he’s back in Scotland or not. If he’s hiding in one of the Blacks’ estate, nobody will find him.”

“I’m not so sure… It’s not like him. Whatever his state, I doubt he would go back to that house…” Remus sighed. 

He was tired and couldn’t wait for Severus to come over with his last potion of the week so he could just go to sleep. 

Just as he thought that someone knocked at his door. 

“Hide,” he told his friend before getting up and opening to the Potion Master. 

… Or so he thought it would be, but instead, he was facing a young girl. 

“Evening…” June mumbled. 

“Good evening,” Remus answered uncomfortably. He looked her up and down. She was avoiding his eyes and seemed as uncomfortable as he felt. “Are you feeling better?” he asked awkwardly.

“Still a little numb from Harry’s drug… It’s a bit fuzzy in my head, but it’s ok. Can we talk?”

“Sure,” Remus moved to let the girl enter and closed the door behind her. “Are you here to talk about…”

“No!” she cut him firmly. “I… don’t want to talk about that. Ever. I’m here because Harry told me that he asked you to let me stay at your house this summer…”

“Err… yeah. I mean, he asked but it’s only if you’re ok with it, of course,” Remus tried to reassure her. He didn’t want her to feel like they were forcing her or anything. 

“Would you try to get me to talk about… what happened earlier? If I go to your house.”

Remus wondered for how long he had that desire to just crush the girl into a tight hug. She certainly deserved it… But she would probably reject him violently if he just let himself… She had had a harsh day. Nobody should have another human as a boggart. Especially not an adult if you were a child! And Remus knew all too well what it felt like to have secrets in the past and no desire to share them with other people. At least Harry knew, so she wasn’t alone. Maybe he could talk to him later. 

“I won’t,” he said. “If you want to talk, I’ll be here to listen, but I promise I won’t force you. I haven’t all year, have I?” he finished with a soft smile. 

She looked at him. She wasn’t smiling back. It was like she was gauging him, and the wolf produced a pitiful whined in the back of his head. She eventually nodded. Remus decided to take that as an agreement?

“Harry also told me you were friend with his parents,” she said.

Remus had to fight the bitter taste in his mouth. He thought he was starting to understand Harry a little by now and if he hadn’t told this to his friend earlier, it probably meant that he thought that she wouldn’t take it well. 

“I was.”

“Were you close?”

“Maybe not as close as you and Harry are, but yes. They were my best friends. They were here for me at a time nobody else was,” he explained sadly. 

“You knew Harry as a baby?”

He nodded. 

“So why didn’t you reach out for him?” she asked.

And Remus didn’t want to answer that. 

“Was it because you’re a werewolf?” she continued. “Harry said there are big prejudices against your kind in this world…”

“They wouldn’t have let me adopt him even if I had tried,” he agreed. However, he knew the girl enough already that she put a huge emphasis on responsibilities. “But I’m not looking for excuses. I should have at least checked on him. I trusted the wrong person and believed them when they told me that Harry was safe and better off secluded from our world…”

The girl stayed silent as if she was trying to decide if she would accept that explanation or not. 

“Many people seemed far too oblivious when it comes to Harry…” she finally said. 

“It shouldn’t have let what happened to him occur. I made a mistake and I could never repay him or you for that.”

She stared but didn’t comment. He felt judged again, but he didn’t mind. If she was to live with him, she ought to know the truth. He let himself down on his armchair while waiting for her to decide what she wanted to ask next. 

He was tired. Hopefully, Severus would come soon, and he would force the girl to go back to the dungeons with him. That way he wouldn’t need to ask her to leave himself. 

Long seconds later, June looked away. That was a sign that Remus had started to recognize. She was done talking about Harry then…

“If you were friend with Harry’s parents, does that mean that you knew Black too?”

“I did…” he admitted, wondering where she was going with that question.

“Are you still friends?”

“I haven’t talked to him in almost 13 years…” Remus said. 

“Is he still your friend?” she repeated. 

Remus didn’t know how to answer that and where to start. He didn’t know why the girl was asking. Was it mere curiosity? It wasn’t like her, though, to be curious about strangers…

Before Remus was able to form an answer, the girl frowned and looked at the bracelet on her wrist. 

“Harry wants to meet…” she informed him. 

“Isn’t your curfew soon?” Remus said not that surprised. 

“Yeah… 9 pm is definitely too early. We’re not toddlers. Could you address that in a school meeting or something?” she asked with a smirked. She then took her wand out and touched the bracelet while whispering. “Coming.”

She frowned again while looking at the jewellery.

“Well, he’s down there already. I hope he thought about taking something to eat otherwise I’m not sure he will get rid of dog…” she mumbled for herself.

“Dog?” Remus repeated. 

“Ah! Yeah, right! I found a stray dog at the beginning of the school year and we often hang out together by the Lake. Would you mind if I take him with me to your house this summer? I mean I grew quite attached to him and it doesn’t feel like he belongs to the Forest or anyone anyway.”

Remus blinked. He was scared to know where this was going. 

“What does he look like? That _dog_.”

“Well, he is pitch black and about this big,” the girl answered putting her hand almost at the same height as her shoulders. “Harry said he looks like a _grim_; if you know what that means… I checked it out and grims have supposedly red eyes and his are grey so he’s probably not! Don’t worry about that! And he’s really well behaved! I promise I’ll take responsibility if he ever does something wrong…”

The werewolf had forgotten to breathe. He turned to the corner of the room for confirmation. 

“Pete?”

The rat immediately turned back to a man. 

“It’s him,” Peter confirmed. 

“Who the hell are you?!!!” June freaked out while taking a step back. 

“June, we don’t have time for that. Where’s that dog?”

The girl had her eyes fixed on Peter with a guarded expression on her face. 

“By the Black Lake, on the Forest side… Probably not far from the dock.”

“Remus, if he’s still under _his_ influence and was told to go after Harry…” Peter warned him. 

“I know! We need to stop him! Fuck I can’t believe Sirius was just under our noses all this time!”

“What?” June asked. “What do you mean Sirius? Dog is just…”

“Peter, take that certificate Madam Bones gave you. We need to catch him!” Remus continued while ignoring the girl. 

“Wait, what do you fucking mean?!!” June tried to stop him grabbing his arm. 

In other circumstances, Remus would have noticed that it was the first time the girl had ever initiate physical contact with him. He would have rejoiced about the progress that had been made in their relationship. But tonight, Remus didn’t have time for that. 

“June, you need to stay here. This can be dangerous…” He muttered while kneeling next to her. 

“But Harry is there! Like hell I’ll let him alone if it’s dangerous!” she said, panic rising in her eyes. 

Remus sighed. They didn’t have time for that. He took out his wand and noticed how the girl’s eyes immediately widened. 

“D-don’t you dare…” she started stepping back out of his reach. 

“I’m sorry…” he muttered. “ _Somnum leporem_”

The girl fell asleep and he caught her before she hit the floor. 

*

Harry wasn’t used to dealing with others’ panic attacks. He had tried to act like Draco and Neville did for him, tried to recreate what worked for him. However, after Ace had calmed down a bit, she had told him that she wanted to go back to her dorm to spend some time alone. He couldn’t argue so he had just walked her to the dungeons. 

She wasn’t there at diner, neither was Lupin. Harry probably owed the man an explanation. He felt like he had been cruel to him and wanted to apologize. He hoped the man wouldn’t come back on his words about fostering Ace for the summer…

After he went back to Gryffindor common room, Harry couldn’t focus on anything. He was thinking about Ace’s boggart, that ‘_evil old witch_’ and how easily she had thrown that devilish curse at Ace. Of course, it was Ace’s greatest fear, maybe in real life, she hadn’t used that spell so easily… But, Madam Pomfrey had said that Ace’s epilepsy couldn’t have been caused by a one-time exposure…

When he went up to his dorm, Harry took out the Marauders’ Map. As it happened far too many times before, he saw that a dot without a name was walking out of the dungeons. He didn’t hesitate long before taking his Invisibility Cloak and leaving a message to Neville to tell him where he went. 

On his way to the Black Lake, he stopped by the kitchen. Ace was probably hungry, and if she was not, she would need to eat something anyway. Calming Draught didn’t do well on an empty stomach after all. Earlier, Harry had asked Madam Pomfrey for a Dreamless Sleep potion, he could give it to Ace if she ever needed it. He just couldn’t let her alone after what had happened. 

When Harry arrived at the Lake, his friend was nowhere to be seen though. Dog joined him happily after only a few seconds but there was no one coming from the Castle. 

Ace was usually always there first – the distance from the Dungeons was significantly shorter than from Gryffindor Tower. Harry waited but the minutes started growing longer. She couldn’t have decided to go to the Room of Requirement to flee the Castle behind his back, could she?

Harry grabbed his bracelet and muttered his message. 

“At the lake?” he asked.

The bracelet almost immediately answered back: “_Coming_”. 

Harry relievedly sighed and muttered ‘_Waiting for you_’, to the bracelet. He smiled when Dog barked softly next to him. 

“Yay, yay, she’s coming,” he said, sitting on the floor. “Do you want to wait for her to eat?”

Dog barked happily again and tried to lick him. It was the first time that they had been only the two of them and he wasn’t sure how to interact with the giant beast. Merlin, he wasn’t even sure he could control that monster of a dog without Ace by his side. 

“I guess not…” he said, taking out cold turkey from his pocket and giving it to the dog. 

The dog gratefully stopped trying to lick him and started eating. Harry used that quiet time to look at the scenery. It was mid-April and the days had gone significantly longer. It was almost 9 already but the sun was just setting, and it was still pretty warm outside. In the Lake, he could see the shadow of the Giant Squid. He wondered what they should do for Draco’s birthday this year. He still had more than a month to think about that though…

After 5 minutes without any news from Ace, Harry started to worry. Dog was done eating and had rested his head on his lap. 

“You don’t know what taking her so long, do you?” he asked. “Of course, you don’t… You’re just a dog…” he then answered himself. 

He had secretly hoped that Ace would have come at that precise moment to make fun of him for talking to a dog, but she didn’t. 

He sighed. 

He was worried. 

He took the Map out and laid it on the ground in front of him. Dog immediately straightened to look at the parchment. 

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” Harry muttered, and Dog yelped softly next to him. 

“I know… Stalking is bad,” Harry muttered. “I just need to find her. _Point me the dot without a name_,” he said while loosening his wand. He frowned. “This is strange… What is she doing alone in Professor Lupin’s office?” he asked aloud. 

He didn’t notice the growling becoming louder next to him at first. He should have, though, because it was becoming increasingly menacing. He turned his head to the dog who was glaring at the map. 

“What? Never seen a magical map before?” he asked sarcastically, trying to hide how uncomfortable the dog was making him. 

Unlike what he usually did, the dog didn’t acknowledge being talked to this time. He was showing his teeth to the Map. Harry was thinking about slowly getting away from him. 

Unfortunately, the dog was faster. 

Harry fell on the ground when the dog attacked him. The beast stole his wand and the Map and started running in direction of the Castle. After a second to recover from his shock and to assess that he wasn’t hurt, Harry jumped to his feet.

“Hey! Bring that back, it’s mine!” he yelled after the dog. 

He started running too. What was that bloody dog thinking? A wand could not be used to play fetch! And that beast didn’t seem like he was ready to bring it back anyway. Harry hoped he wouldn’t break it… He would be in so much trouble if he did!! 

Harry tried to run as fast as he could, but the dog was faster. The boy was losing hope but then he saw a man running out of the Castle. It was Professor Lupin! The dog was charging him. If Lupin could just stop him, Harry had a chance!

“Professor! Get that…dog,” Harry stopped dead on his track. 

The dog had just changed into a man. A man if a ragged prison suit was anything to get by. Dark tangled hair as black as the dog’s fur was falling on his scrawny shoulders. He was tall but slightly smaller than Lupin. 

The realization hit him. 

It was Sirius Black.

He was looking at Lupin as if he was gauging him. Professor Lupin had stopped on his track and was staring at the prisoner with some kind of reservation. 

Then another man appeared just behind Lupin. Harry didn’t know him. He wasn’t a professor as he had never even seen him in the Great Hall… He was short, he kind of looked like a rat with his pointed nose and yellowish teeth. He appeared out of breath and seemed sickly.

His appearance triggered Black’s response.

“Remus, you traitor! Of course, you’re with him!! Then I’ll kill you both!!!” the man yelled at Lupin. 

He pointed Harry’s wand at the professor. 

“Sirius, calm down,” Lupin said calmly, positioning himself between Black and the other man. “You’re not yourself…”

“Myself?!!! MYSELF?!!!!! YOU KNEW HE WASN’T DEAD AND YOU LET ME ROT IN AZKABAN! FOR TWELVE YEARS???!!!!”

Black was hysterical. Suddenly Harry was really glad that wands weren’t like guns… They always shot accidentally in Dudley’s movies in this kind of situation. Without a word, he grabbed the Marauders’ map that Black had discarded in his attack. 

“Calm down, please. Let us explain,” Lupin tried again. 

Harry didn’t understand why he was even trying. The Prophet stated that Black was barmy and clearly, the man was currently proving the paper right for once… 

“There is no explanation. He killed James, and you’re with him. You both need to die! _DEPULSO_!!”

Red sparkles sprouted out of Harry’s wand, but Lupin blocked the spell easily. They started duelling and it was nothing like what Snape and Lockhart had shown them the previous year. Black was erratic, clearly powerful, and unpredictable. Yet, he seemed to lack training and stamina compared to Lupin who was much more composed and calmer. Maybe the wand wasn’t responding well to him… it was Harry’s after all!

Harry should probably run to the Castle to find help but what if Black decided to attack him when he passed by him? It would probably distract Lupin enough to break through his defence… Could he leave without his wand? Draco would probably never approve of that… Why wasn’t the other man intervening? He was certainly on the right side of the duel to go and find reinforcements! 

“That’s enough Sirius! _Expelliarmus_!_Incarcerous_!”

Harry’s wand flew in the air and thin cords shot from Lupin's wand this time. Next moment, Black was wriggling on the floor, bound, and gagged. Lupin kneeled next to him and checked his left forearm before removing the gag.

“Sirius, listen. It’s not what you think. Peter didn’t betray them. He wasn’t their Secret Keeper either,” he said calmly. 

“You don’t know that! You weren’t there! I told James that I couldn’t do it anymore and that we needed to switch! We didn’t tell you because you weren’t there! He’s lying! What do you even trust him instead of me?!!!” yelled the prisoner. “Why don’t you ever believe me???! I thought you… How can you do that to me! To James!! He killed him!!!!”

It was probably Harry’s clue to get some help… But now he was curious. Black had spoken his father’s name twice already… And he was under control, so it was probably safe to stay. 

“Peter, do the test,” Lupin ordered the other man. 

“Coming, just need a drop of blood…”

“STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU FUCKING RAT!!” Black raged as the small man approached him with a small dagger. 

He slightly scratched Black’s arm - who vainly tried to get away from him - and put the blood on a parchment. 

“How long will it take?” Lupin asked. 

“Madam Bones said that he could take up to one or two minutes,” the sickly-looking man, ‘_Peter_’ answered. 

Madam Bones as Susan Bones’s aunt, the Head of the DMLE? That man certainly didn’t look like an Auror…

“Release me, Remus!” Black kept screaming. “He betrayed James! Now he’s dead! I need to kill him and then go back to Hagrid! He wants to bring Harry to Lily’s sister and her disgusting muggle husband! I promised Lily that her son will go nowhere near that man! If not for me, at least do it for Harry!!!”

Harry felt his blood running cold in his vein. He knew he shouldn’t put much faith in a mad man frantic word… The man was clearly stuck in the past. Yet, was he saying the truth? Did his mother specifically say that she didn’t want him to go with the Dursleys? Then why?

“Sirius, think. If Peter were the secret keeper and betrayed them, why would he have told Hagrid of all people? Hagrid had never been to the cottage before! That’s why they couldn’t stay at Potter Manor, could they? Because too many people knew about it. But it wasn’t the same with the cottage. Only Dumbledore and the four of us knew. Peter is not dead yet, the charm should still be up despite James’ and Lily’s death,” Lupin tried to convince the man softly. “How did Hagrid get there?”

“Was that what he told you? And you believe him! Certainly, Dumbledore told Hagrid! Hagrid said that Dumbledore had sent him!”

“Yet, only the secret keeper can give the information to someone else. Second-hand knowers cannot pass down the knowledge. Think Sirius. Hagrid shouldn’t have been able to get in even after the house was destroyed. The charm is on the blood, not the walls and Harry was still in there.” Lupin insisted. He then turned to Peter. “How is it going?”

“It’s working… just a few more seconds… Here! Compulsion charms. According to the test, it’s been up for more than 10 years! Madam Bones said it would be enough to prove that he is not guilty of the murder and attempted murder charges!!” the man said excitedly. 

“Good. Now give him the potion,” Lupin said. 

_Peter_ gave him a vial with a strange-looking potion inside. It looked disgusting. 

“Come on, Sirius. You need to drink this, it’s a compulsion nullifier draught.”

“I WON’T DRINK ANYTHING HE GAVE YOU! HE’S WITH VOLDEMORT! HE KILLED JAMES!!”

“He didn’t,” Lupin corrected him. “Pete, show him your arm.” 

The man did as tell and shown the prisoner his bare forearms. 

“See? No Dark Mark.”

“Of course, _no Dark Mark_! It’s not as if he could be anywhere near _His_ inner circle! Please, Remus, don’t trust him! He betrayed them; I need to kill him!” Black pleaded. “He killed James.”

“You don’t need to kill anyone. Just, take that potion and you will see. I promise you it’s nothing else than a compulsion nullifier draught. This,” he said while pointing at the parchment in _Peter_’s hand, “is an official compulsion detecting charm. This can be used as evidence for your trial. Pete testified for you; do you know that?”

“They will probably decide that you’re not guilty. They were voting tonight but I couldn’t stay,” _Peter_ confirmed. 

“Sirius, you were right when you said that it was Dumbledore who told Hagrid how to get to the Cottage,” Lupin said. “And he was able to do that because he was _not_ a secondary keeper. Now, could you trust me and drink this, so I don’t have to pour it down your throat?”

Black was watching Lupin intensively as if he was holding an internal battle against himself. Then he drank the potion, and Lupin gave a relieved sigh. 

Harry was feeling nervous. If anything, he knew how to read people and Lupin was trying to prove that Black wasn’t bad… He would probably release him soon… and then what? Black will escape? And his chance to finally get closure on his custody case would be doomed! He couldn’t let that happened. 

So, very slowly, Harry moved to grab his wand which was lying on the ground. 

As he was doing so, Black had started frowning and then the realization hit his face. 

“Remus… I… Why are you… what… James! James and Lily, they are… Harry… Bloody Merlin, what have I done???” 

“_Relashio_,” Lupin mumbled. 

“You’re with him,” Harry stated softly while moving his wand to point it at Black. He could probably hit him with a _petrificus totalus_ if he tried to run. 

Lupin looked up. “He is innocent, Harry. He didn’t betray your parents. He doesn’t want to kill you.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I know he doesn’t want to kill me. If he did, he could have done it one hundred times this year already…” he said, thinking back to all the times he went wandering around with that giant black dog. Ace will be frantic when she would hear about it… “The thing is that I don’t care. Because that’s for the Wizengamot to decide. I can’t just let you let him run away again. I need him to give up his rights on me.”

Black looked up to him from Lupin’s arms. The light from the rising moon made his tears twinkle in his dirty cheeks. It lasted only a second but, with that lost expression on his face, Harry thought that his eyes looked just like Ace’s… 

That moment didn’t last.

Lupin twitched and Black frowned looking up in the sky and widening his eyes in horror. 

“Pete! James! Transform, now!” he yelled, jumping out of Lupin’s arm, and transforming back into Dog. 

Harry frowned without understanding. The other man turned into a rat, but not just any rat.

“Scabbers?!!” Harry exclaimed. 

Though he couldn’t wonder more about how that man could turn into Ron’s dead pet as a loud howling pierced the deadly silence. Harry turned his head to Lupin. Angry yellow eyes looked back. 

“Fuck…” Harry mumbled.   



End file.
